Fight Card Subject to Change

Fight Card Subject to Change. The words every fight fan tries to pretend do not exist. The phrase is always hidden somewhere on the fight posters showing today’s modern day gladiators squaring off. It comes across th

buy viagra

e TV screen on the bottom right before the commercial with loud rock music ends. And the words can kill an event before it even begins. The names of the injured over the past few months are too numerous to list, but more than one main event has been changed, or outright cancelled. So why the sudden rash of injuries? Is it simply Murphy’s Law making an example of the UFC? Or is there something systemic going on?

As a general rule, I refrain from comparing boxing to MMA. I think the realities of each sport make them vastly different. On the sports tree of life however, boxing is the fruit that falls the closest to MMA. Boxing training camps are the closest equivalent to MMA training camps, so are as many boxers forced to pull out of a match as in MMA? If you take a close look at boxing, you will find the answer to be yes. About as many boxers pull of matches as do mixed martial artists. Continuing that train of thought leads you to the fact that it is not a problem specific to MMA.

If we further continue that train of thinking, and look at sports in general injuries are not an uncommon thing. Athletes in general are more prone to injury than the average person as a consequence of the physical feats they perform. Athletes also do not stop being athletes simply because the season is over. Professional athletes are hurt in the offseason all the time due to all kinds of unfortunate events ranging from riding a scooter to playing in charitable basketball games. In MMA there is no offseason. A fighter may amp it up for training camp, but they still practice hurting other people and defending against others trying to simulate hurting them that injuries almost seem like a foregone conclusion. When you stop to consider that fighters spend time in the gym like most of us spend time in a cubicle, the question turns from why so many fighters are injured, to why aren’t more fighters injured? This writer uses ice and a heating pad on a regular basis to forestall carpal tunnel syndrome. Fighters slam each other around the gym all day long, and we are surprised that they get injured?

Is there anything that can be done by the UFC and other companies to insure that the fight posters do not have to be remade several times before the card occurs? The NFL, NBA, and MLB all have rules that regulate how much and when teams are allowed to practice. The NFL regulates how much contact can be made throughout practices at an attempt to limit injuries. The rules are effective to a degree, but they do not stop all injuries from occurring. With the NFL widely regarded as the most violent non combat sport, and also being regulated from a practice standpoint, it is the closest corollary we can use. Setting aside things such as the authority to do so or the logistics, would there be less injuries if fighters were somehow limited in how much and how hard they could go in camp? The short answer is yes, but not to a degree that would be considered much of a success. Injuries would still occur, and occur often.

The fact of the matter is that our heroes and heroines of the cage train to hurt one another. The only way for them to do so effectively is simulate as closely as possible the battle conditions that will face in their contests on fight night. Fighters train hard, and require that their training partners go close to full bore in camp to insure they can handle whatever their opponent may bring to bear. The reality is, that even at half strength their training partners are still performing acts that are meant to injure. Even on their own, fighters are drilling the same moves over and over. Injuries are bound to happen as one practices. Regulated fight camps, or limited training camps would only help to a degree. Injuries are as much a part of MMA as jiu jitsu or dirty boxing. So before you buy that ticket to Vegas four months in advance to watch your heroes duke it out remember; “Fight Card Subject to Change.”