<Double-post due to RIDICULOUS time lag deleted>
UFC and Mixed Martial Arts (aka cage fighting) aren’t actually as bloodthirsty and violent as one would think. It looks bad because there tends to be more blood than in boxing, but the cuts tend to be superficial ones that are more dramatic than they are traumatic. Good old fashioned pro boxing looks less violent to the naked eye, but ironically it may cause more and more serious injuries than MMA.
In boxing, a downed fighter is given a ten count to rise to his feet and is then checked by the ref to make sure he’s capable of continuing. A stunned but not downed fighter may (depending on the rules used) be given a standing eight count by the ref to see if he’s capable of continuing. In MMA, a stunned and downed fighter is pounced on, usually resulting in stoppage right then and there. Not only that, a an unstunned but downed fighter can be submitted and tapped out, ending a fight when the fighter is actually uninjured. This means longer fights for the boxers, more blows, and more possibilities of concussive injury. Boxers fight for ten rounds and may suffer multiple knockdowns, while MMArtists only fight for three, five in a championship, and a knockdown frequently ends the fight (that’s knockdowns, not takedowns).
I don’t know if it’s bourne out by medical science, but what you’re taught in the gym is that it’s not the one clean knockout punch that’s dangerous, it’s the blows that come after that punch. If you “get your bell rung,” training for you is over for the day. If a MMA fighter gets his bell rung, the fight’s most likely over for him, because the other guy is going to pounce on him and the ref is going to stop the fight. If a boxer gets his bell rung, he might keep fighting if he can rise in a ten count, and for many more rounds. .
I don’t know, I’ve seen many MMA clips where someone is clearly down and out, and the other guy gets in a few more blows. Since the fight isn’t ended just by the person falling down, they will tend to keep on punching until the referee physically gets between them. (I’ve wondered why they can’t use a whistle or something.)
When I hear about how safe MMA is supposed to be, I wonder about the statistics. They say nobody has died in a sanctioned MMA fight, but how many of those have there been compared to boxing? I bet there have been 100 times as many boxing matches, or 1,000, or 10,000. Also, the grappling and throws allow for some really nasty joint injuries.
The modern UFC is relatively tame though, in comparison to Pride fighting, or the early UFC, or other leagues.
Yes, Pride allows stuff like knees to the head of a downed man. 
However, since UFC has [del]bought out[/del] merged with Pride and already started consolidating belts, I think Pride is likely to start adapting its rules to the safer UFC rules.
Stephen King’s “The Running Man”? I was going to say King’s “The Long Walk.” Right now it would make a great TV series written as is, or a reality series when the people who don’t walk fast enough are merely disqualified. But having it played as King wrote it, with people being shot if they don’t walk fast enough, would be really great. Or they could even allow the other contestants to kill the slow walkers themselves!
Great American Fun!
I’d like to see Monster Trucks built like tanks and smash into each other.
They may get a few more punches in until the ref stops them, and some may land squarely, but a boxer who gets rocked but not downed or a downed boxer who gets back up after a count could go on to fight seven or more rounds after a knockdown and get dozens more blows hammered to his already injured brain.
Take Levander Johnson, for example: he was defending his title against Jesus Chavez, got rocked by some punches in the early rounds, and was unsteady as he walked back to his corner for the 11th. The fight was stopped 38 second in the 11th round after Chavez landed more than two dozen unanswered punches on Johnson, and after the fight, Johnson collapsed and later died from a subdural hematoma. In an MMA match, that might not have happened. A MMA fighter who gets rocked is more likely to get taken down and “ground and pounded” and have the fight stopped than he is to recover and finish the fight. Boxers can throw and land many more punches per round for more rounds; they fight at a closer range and have gloves with better hand protection. Mayweather’s opponents have landed an average of over 100 punches per round on him in his last 6 fights, and he was the winner. He landed over 200 on De La Hoya.
It’s true that MMA is a young sport and the numbers aren’t in yet, but the rules have evolved to a point where the sport should logically lead to fewer serious injuries than boxing. As far as the throws, they shouldn’t be that much more dangerous than what you’re likely to see in college wrestling or Judo, and serious joint damage shouldn’t happen if the guy taps out when he ought to.
No argument there.