Boxing vs MMA: Which is better?
'Fighting', as an art form, is something that has been around in the world forever. For as long as can be remembered, humans have tested their strength against one another, to see which of them was more powerful.
Now, however, Combat Sports has reached a new level of popularity in the modern world.
When talking about Combat Sports, it is Mixed Martial Arts that people seem to think about more nowadays.
Boxing used to be the one-and-only accepted form of Combat Sports in the United States for a long time. While in Japan and China, there were varieties of Martial Arts, it was boxing that people paid to see in the USA. Names like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and even Floyd 'Money' Mayweather, are well known throughout the world even today.
Mixed Martial Arts, however, is a new sport in the United States when compared to Boxing. Lacking the legacy that Boxing has, it has still managed to create waves in the world of Combat Sports, and in the last decade has surged in popularity, becoming 'the' undisputed king of Combat Sports.
Given its popularity, many newcomers to the world of fight-arts are often confused about which sport to follow. The question of "Boxing vs MMA: Which is better?" -- is not a new one. In fact, over the past decade, this question has seemingly gotten more and more common.
With that in mind, in this article, we are going to take a look at the two combat forms and decide which one is better.
#1 Safety
Let's make this clear.
When you enter an Octagon, or a ring, to fight an opponent with an aim to strike him enough times to incapacitate him, or to knock him out altogether, safety is not a question that naturally comes to mind.
However, safety is an important aspect of the game.
At many points, it has been argued that MMA is a dangerous art form when it comes to combat.
Senator John McCain was recorded calling it 'Human Cockfighting' back in the day when there were no rules as such, and the fights were 'anything goes'.
Since that time, however, MMA has become highly regulated. As a point of note, it was sanctioned only in 2001 in some states and operated under a regulated environment. Since 2001, in sanctioned and unsanctioned fights, 13 fighters have passed away. (5 in sanctioned, and 8 in unsanctioned)
Fights are stopped at the discretion of the referee, whose job it is to make sure the fighters are not hurt.
Boxing has always been known to be the more regulated sport with respected athletes. Naturally, many fans expect the fights to be safer. However, here is where it gets unexpected.
The referees in boxing allow the fighters to continue if they can make it to their feet within 10 seconds.
Since the year 2000, 68 fighters have passed away in different forms of boxing.
That makes it a ratio of 3.8 deaths a year on average in boxing vs 0.7 deaths a year in Mixed Martial Arts.
Decision: MMA.