When a Blow to the Head Is a Blow to the Nation

Blood. Gore. Crushing blows to the head. Was this the best way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday?

On June 14, which was Flag Day and President Trump’s 80th birthday, Trump hosted an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) cage match at the White House, dubbed “UFC Freedom 250.” The event was televised on Paramount+. Right after one bout, one of the fighters, Ilia Topuria, was taken to the hospital for apparent damage to his eyes suffered from blows during the fight. UFC has become incredibly popular in recent years, but given the violent nature of UFC and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and the rising awareness of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and concussions, these sports should not be glorified and put on a pedestal.

MMA is a combat sport that combines several disciplines and fighting techniques and skills, including boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, kick boxing, kung fu, taekwondo and wrestling. UFC, which was founded in 1993, is the most prominent MMA organization. UFC is hugely popular, both in terms of television audience and live venue crowds. According to BetMGM, “An average UFC event could draw 300,000 to 2,000,000 viewers globally, based on pay-per-view buys. In its history, the UFC has surpassed the million-dollar mark in pay-per-view buys 19 times, with UFC 229 as the highest at 2.4 million buys.”

There have been incidents where MMA fighters died or were severely injured while fighting a match in the ring or shortly thereafter. In 2016, João Carvalho underwent emergency brain surgery after an MMA fight and died two days later. No fighter has ever died in a UFC match.

While deaths in MMA have been rare, there is an ongoing concern about CTE and concussions due to MMA fights. A 2020 New York Times/The Athletic article indicated that 61.2% of MMA fighters surveyed said that they were concerned about long-term brain damage. Over 20% of the fighters surveyed said that they noticed discernible differences in their brain functions. UFC has a concussion protocol and other safety rules, including prohibition of head butting, strikes to the back of the head and kneeing or kicking the head of a grounded opponent. However, the risks of concussions in MMA are high. A 2014 study “detected an average of 6.4 knockouts per athlete for every 100 fights, or ‘athlete exposures’. When the multiple-strike TKOs were added, the total of suspected brain injuries climbed to 15.9 per athlete per 100 bouts, or one concussion-like injury in 32% of the matches.”

Due to these concerns, medical associations of several countries, including Canada, The United Kingdom and Australia have called for a ban on MMA. President of the West Australian branch of the Australian Medical Association Omar Khorshid said, “Whether it’s in a cage or in a ring or out in the street, bashing people in the head repeatedly, or kicking them, or even throttling them on the ground is not something that we should be supporting.”

Some people object to UFC and MMA as being unethical and violating religious principles. One well-known Catholic priest, Father Mike Schmitz has argued that MMA strips human dignity.

It’s unrealistic for states or congress to ban UFC and MMA.

Originally, MMA was legislatively banned by several states. In 2016, New York was the last state to lift its ban on MMA fighting, allowing it to sanction and regulate professional MMA.  Professional MMA has been banned in Norway since 1982, when its parliament passed a “knockout law” that prohibited sports involving knockouts as a victory. In 1996, Senator John McCain described MMA as “human cockfighting”, although his views on the sport softened over the years. Boxing promoter Lou DiBella also referred to MMA as “human cockfighting” during an ESPN debate with Joe Rogan.

If fighting were to be banned legislatively, it would go underground like the infamous fictional Fight Club and be even more dangerous for fighters.

It’s true that MMA and UFC fighters engage in this violent activity with their free will and informed consent as to the potential health dangers. Many are well compensated and they all  know what they’re getting into.

Banning UFC and MMA is unrealistic, but we as a society don’t have to promote and glorify it as something that’s positive for kids to emulate. If and when a death or serious brain injury takes place in a future high-profile UFC or MMA match, even more people will start to question why we promoted and supported this activity. In celebrating America’s 250th birthday, we should have stuck to fireworks, concerts and parades.