Mixed martial arts are known for a lot of things but it is not the safest job in the world. People who are willing to take their time to become martial art fighters know the risk the game possesses. They are ready to handle everything and prepare to overcome any obstacle that comes with their way to become the best in the business.
To become the best requires you to put more than blood and sweat in the game, the mind game has to be at its all-time high if the fighter wants to win the game before taking on the opponent.
MMA is considered the toughest and most violent sport in the world, unlike boxing. The fighters can use more weapons of their body to take down the opponent. From jabs to submission, all arts are allowed in the ring if the fighter wants to win over their opponent. Most of the time a fight ends in a knockout, decision, or classic submission, or no contest. But there is a chance a player might take the life of another in the ring.
When you look at the average number of MMA fights held in a year, the chances of a fighter dying in the ring are very low.
There have been recorded cases where a fighter lost their life in the ring.
The question is what happens next?
What happens if someone dies in an MMA fight?
All the fights are covered under the law of the jurisdiction of the place where the fight takes place. Both fighters are covered within the rules and regulations of the fighting competition. If one of them dies during the match, then the other fighter will not receive any prosecution after or during the contest. Since the law of the state’s athletic committee will get to decide who takes the winning number of the round. But both fighters are completely free from facing any charges.
There have been a number of cases in combat sports, where the end result of the fight ended in the death of the fighters. The scene in MMA is fairly new since it’s a new coming sport compared to some of the old combat sports in the world.
MMA has been around for 30 years, compared to other combat sports, MMA has a lower record of dangerous cases compared to a sport such as boxing. Dying in an MMA fight is relatively lower than the sports of boxing.
Most of the time issues such as this depend upon the opponent and circumstances involved in the fight. But there are certain rules that are made available for the match before the fight begins. Each fighter must follow all the rules and regulations around it before taking their chances on the ring. These rules make the game fair for both fighters, so they will less likely to get injured or end up in a disqualification scenario.
- Fights must be legal
- All the moves should be on-lethal
- Intentional lethal damage will carry heavy circumstances
- Always listen to the command of the referee
- When the fight is over, it should stay that way.
- No illegal punches or kicks after the round is over
These rules are what carry the overall fighting to the next stage. All fighters know how dangerous the match can be, they are ready to face the consequences before the fight.
Some of the accidents will be light to heavy injuries, long-term cognitive impairment, and rarely life-threatening.
In the fighting community if everything goes the same way as the textbook, then death would be treated as an accident.
Why is death so rare in an MMA fight?The 3 Main Reasons
MMA is still a young sport compared to the franchise that boxing has built over the centuries. The laws that play for boxing matches hold the same value in MMA matches as well. In the United States, the laws for combat sports are mostly the same.
In the boxing scene, there have been a number of cases where the fighter wound up dying on stage or after the match. When the rules are followed to every single letter, no precautions have been made against the winner of the match.
Following the Rules
In an MMA match, the fighter has access to more attacks than a sport like Boxing. Every MMA fighter marks sure they follow all the key rules that have been set for the match.
If The fight takes place abiding by the rules, then no harm will get done to the fighters.
But if the fighter makes an illegal strike in the ring or brings a knife into the octagon, then they will 100% face legal ramifications from their illegal behavior.
Observers
If the observer of the fight makes a decision on seeing excessive actions from one fighter, then this is one of the cases where the justice system will intervene in the system.
If The violence that gets committed in the ring gets excessive, then in a traditional case one would get followed by the fighter.
If you ever saw a UFC match, then you know the attention to detail that gets paid to fighters before the match.
Medical professionals
All fighters in the UFC are vetted through various steps before they are allowed to enter the ring. These checks make sure the fighter has everything that they need to have for fighting and nothing else.
And medical staff awaits outside the ring to make sure everything goes according to the match, if they spot any severe injuries on a fighter, then they will step in and prevent the fighter from continuing the fight.
This will alter the match, but the medical staff is prepared to put the life of the fighter over the fight.
The medical staff in the MMA area are more than qualified, as they will be able to call the match and stop it for a better inspection of the fighter’s injury.
Sometimes the decision hangs on them, as they will call whether the fighter is able to take the fight or the jury on their body is life-threatening.
In a martial art fight, almost all attacks will feel life-threatening, but there are some instances where a jab can lend on the wrong area of the body. This will result in nasty incidents.
Will there be a prosecution?
Every fight has its rules and regulations that both fighters need to follow if they want to stay out of any illegal violation territory. Most fighters take the rules very seriously, breaking them will cost them a lot of money and the possibility of a limited ban.
Only certain moves are allowed in the fight, anything beyond that will get seen as a violation of the law of the game. This will result in immediate disqualification.
The law allows a very specific amount of violence in the ring, when a fighter steps outside the restricted status, then they will face charges for their actions in the ring. If the fighter makes an illegal strike against his other opponent, then they will get prosecuted for their action and end up in the court to hear the case.
Throughout the years, there have been multiple cases of interfering with the ring and making illegal activities to rig the match.
The list includes injured fighters, tampering with the gloves, low blows, eye gouges, and actions that don’t get noticed by the referee.
These cases will result in disqualification of the fighter and in worse cases life-threatening accidents.
In the course of MMA, there have been several cases where a fighter wound up dying. But there has never been a case where the fighter ended up facing prosecution.
Since everything got carried by the law of the fight. Any sort of injuries that took place in the ring counted as an action that is allowed by the laws.
But if a fighter commits an action that is considered illegal then they will face charges.
Has anyone ever died in a UFC fight?
The UFC has never seen a fighter dying on stage or after the match is over. But there have been cases where the fighters displayed signs of neurological issues. Repeated blows to the head will lead to thousands of other problems that will ruin the career of the fighter for a long time. Taking multiple hits to the head will shorten the lifespan of the fighter.
UFC performs extensive health checkups by professional medical staff before, during, and after the fight to make sure the fighter is ready for a fight. Referees are also qualified to spot out illegal injuries to stop the fight before the situation becomes worse. Andsalsat,y fighters on both sides of the aisle will have to go through regular health checkups to ensure that they are fit for the battle.
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Conclusions
While the chances are very slim of a fighter dying in the octagon. Every day MMA organizations make effective decisions and rules to make their fighting competition fair and legal for both fighters. So, the match will end without any extreme incidents that might end up becoming life-threatening.