14 million Americans suffer from blur vision, bad eyesight is a bigger issue than it has ever been.
It becomes more important if the entire job involves seeing every move of the opponent to knock them out with a precision strike.
Bad eyesight will get in the way when you try to avoid the punches, strikes, jabs, and more coming your way.
Proper eyesight is needed to survive on the battlefield and try to win it in the differents way avaible. Doesn’t matter what kind of combat sports a fighter decides to take part in sacrificing one sense will also demean the chances of the fighter taking the trophy home.
There are two ways one can fight blurred vision, either by wearing glasses, which is not what you want to have in a fight, or wear contact lenses.
So, the question is
Can fighters be allowed To Wear contacts?
Yes, any fighters are allowed to enter the ring with contacts on. They are allowed to wear soft contact lenses. Some athletic commissions will have precise rules against contractors but most fighters must meet the requirements before they can get in the fight. One of the requirements for joining the fight is proper vision. Any fighter who steps into the ring must have a proper vision or they would get booted out of the arena. Not wearing contact lenses will violate one of these rules.
Should UFC Fighters wear contacts?
Plenty of big named fighters are known to wear contact lenses before and after the fight.
According to Heavyweight Juan Adams, fighters aren’t allowed to wear contacts.
But when you look at the rulebook, there is no mention of this rule in any medical requirements.
As we know that most rules for UFC get defined by the athletic commission. They are the one that determines the rules of engagement for each case.
For a fighter to wear contacts on their eye, they have to go through an eye exam which is required by the state athletic commission.
Many of the UFC fighters have a history of wearing contacts before the match. Fighters such as Quinton Jackson, Juan Adams, Thibault Gouti, and Karo Parisian have all worn contact lenses before the fight.
People who have problems with their eyes have to decide between glasses and contact lenses every single day.
If They don’t, their eyesight will get worse every day.
It becomes rather important for them to tower glasses or contact lenses regularly to avoid permanent damage to their eye health. Generally, there are no hindrances in picking glasses or contact lenses.
Why is it so important?
At the end of the day, they want to win the match. Unlike other jobs, her eyes are more important than one might think. From a fidget’s perspective, they have to know everything before they can throw a jab or kick.
A single muscle twitch on the opponent’s body will be a sign of an attack or a move that can make a huge difference in the field.
Knowing about them will definitely raise the chances of the fighter winning the overall game.
Sports can be difficult for anyone even for a professional, combat sports like MMA require a lot from the fighter.
Bad eye problems on any person could be near-sightedness, far-sightedness.
Myopia Can Affect Fighters of MMA
For fighters, these are problems that will have a negative effect on the match. The near-sightedness is known as Myopia. This is where distant objects appear as blurry, in far-sightedness, closest objects appear blurry.
Myopia affects 20% of the world’s population, where far-sightedness or known as Hyperopia affects young children.
Far-sightedness affects fewer people compared to Myopia, where more people are affected by this condition. When it comes to major eye conditions, Myopia and Hyperopia are the main conditions that affect millions of people.
Fighters are no different, they are suffering from these conditions too. The only solution to these symptoms is by wearing glasses or contacts to make their vision much better.
They would have trouble perceiving moves that can end the fight instantly. A blurred vision will be able to ruin the momentum or end of the fight.
Can amateur fighters wear contacts?
Yes, there are no rules restricting amateur MMA fighters from wearing contact lenses. Amateur fights are considered as an exercise rather than officially considered as a match.
Their matches differ a lot from professional matches. Normally, people who don’t like to wear contacts, prefer to wear goggles.
Plenty of sports athletes prefer to wear a form of sports goggles to keep their vision strong in a match.
While the idea of wearing goggles might seem a great idea but in a sparring fight, it is highly impractical.
But on the whole, there are no rules limiting or restricting the fighters from wearing contact lenses.
There are chances the contract might fall in a fight, if that happens, then the lenses must be replaced immediately, a doctor might step into the ring to make sure everything is alright and doesn’t go to other ways.
To answer the question, yes, amateur MMA fighters are allowed to wear contact lenses. Many fighters wear contact lenses over goggles and glasses.
Wearing contacts on a Professional fight
But in a professional fight, there are no rules that dictate what people should wear for their health concerns.
Global MMA has a more open-minded stance on these issues. Any individual, national, regional, and organization
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can make rules from themselves regarding the eyesight prescriptions.
There is a difference between amateur fights and professional matches. Amateur fights are seen as a training exercise, but professional fights are tougher for both fighters.
Here experienced fighters fight their best to succeed.
Wearing sports goggles is very useful for both professional and amateur fighters, especially in parcel rounds but in real flights, they will get in the way.
They also raise the risk of fighting in a real match.
Unlike amateur fights, professional fighters involve more deadly strikes that can lead to injuries. So, mixing glasses or goggles will make the injuries more deadly, and avoiding them is the best thing you can do to avoid a lot of damage.
This is why many fighters tend to avoid wearing sports goggles during a professional fight.
Organization stance on Contact lenses
All the professional MMA organizations have different rulings towards these issues. But they take the injuries in a fight very seriously.
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Eye Damage UFC fighters
Eye damage is one of the common forms of attacks that fighters receive in every fight.
Most of the UFC fight ends up with a black eye or something much worse on the face. Plenty of the shots are aimed at the head, which is why MMA organizations have doctors at stand-by to help the fighter when the time comes.
An organization may play a different standing to this rule based on what kind of fight will take place in the ring. Normally global organizations pay more attention to professional MMA than amateur MMA.
If the injuries are more dangerous and have a serious impact on the fighter’s vision, then the fighter will deem as incapable to take part in the match.
Glasses in a professional fight are prohibited for matches and goggles are allowed but wearing them in a fight will be impractical and hurt the fighter more.
Wearing contacts During a fight of MMA
If the visions are worse, then the fighters are allowed to wear contacts but that will come with risks and benefits.
Bernie Profato the director of the Ohio Athletic Commission had this to say about contact lenses in an MMA fight.
“There’s nothing in our rules that says you can’t wear soft contacts, but if they come out, you can’t go look for them – it’s not like a basketball game where you go out there and look, and put the contact back in – you have to keep fighting without them.”
In the UFC, plenty of fighter’s wear contacts before the fight.
In the current time, UFC follows all the rules from the strike force.
One of the fighters was eliminated from participating in a fight, but later the news source revealed it was due to other reasons than the fighter wearing contact lenses.
Many state athletic commissions do allow their fights to compete in matches with their contracts.
Before they do that, they must pass a minimum vision requirement before they can think about putting up the contacts.
Conclusion
Just like people, many fighters who dream of taking part in the MMA ring have problems with their eyes. Something like that will hurt their chances of winning the match.
The law on the other hand allows the organization to see this as a problem. If The vision of the fighter is too severe then they must wear some form of device to make their vision clear before the fight or they will get immediately disqualified.
Organizations have taken steps to make sure if the fighters are suffering from eye problems, then it gets checked after every round by a medical professional.
So, the fighter won’t lose their vision or create any permanent damage to their eyes during or after the match.