IS MMA SAFE?

With the unfortunate passing of MMA fighter Michael Kirkham the inevitable question of MMA's safety comes up. After all, with the inherent dangers of the sport how do we prevent these tragedies?

There are many who argue that MMA should be banned due to it's violent nature. Yet one only has to look as far as the NFL to see effects of a sport on the human body. An unfortunate example was the extremely talented and troubled Chris Henry.

So how can we prevent serious injury inside the MMA game?

I think it really boils down to more stringent regulation. There are so many fledgling organizations that go unregulated. I'm not saying that it is the reason for the recent events, but the truth of the matter is that there are some promoters that will put anyone in a cage to make a few dollars...and even more fighters willing to step into it. Who in their right mind let Tommy Morrison fight an MMA fight anyway? But the fact is that it happened.

When training always train with proper equipment and properly experienced partners.  As for fighters preparing for a fight, I understand the need for hard sparring - but there needs to be an objective outsider to ensure safety. If you ask the fighter, they will always say hit harder, they will always say that they are good to go. We need more fight doctors in the game and in the gym.

At the legal level, there needs to be a larger managing force, and not just in Nevada. MMA is a great sport, but we cannot ask the fighters to look out for themselves. We need to look out for them.