Everything is dangerous

I like to analyze things with numbers. Recently I've run into a few such facts about Mixed Martial Arts.

MMA is often reviled as bloodthirsty and dangerous. Can't really argue with the bloodthirsty part, but dangerous?

Surely yes, but how dangerous?

Since the rules were formalized and matches became sanctioned in 2001, there have been two deaths in sanctioned matches. One was in 2010 and the other in 2007.

Let's compare this with boxing. Actually, that's harder than you'd think. The boxing statistics are not as conveniently recorded. According to the Manuel Valazquez Boxing Fatality Collection there were 56 deaths between 2001 and 2007 (the last year I could get data for).

Of course, MMA fights only happen in a small part of the world, while boxing is worldwide. However, we can infer somewhat from the 56 deaths listed. Overall, slightly over half of all boxing deaths occurred within the USA. If we apply that ratio to the 56 deaths, we can estimate that about 28 deaths happened in the USA over 7 years. That is about 4 deaths per year within the USA.

Matching this rate to the 11 year period related to the 2 MMA deaths a surprising fact emerges.

In the USA alone, boxing killed about 44 fighters. In the entire world, MMA killed 2 fighters.

So should we ban both boxing and MMA?

In the last 150 years, 850 people died either watching baseball, or participating. That is an average of almost 6 per year, the majority of those dying being under 14 years of age.

Football since 1991 has averaged 4.3 direct deaths per year, and about four times that many due to related causes like respiratory failure, or heat stroke that occurred while participating. It also has a very high number of catastrophic injuries, like spinal paralysis, at 16 per year. Interestingly, Football is the only sport reporting that separates direct and indirect deaths. All the others figure that if you die from any cause during an activity it counts. I agree.

In 2006 (the only year I have a number for) 42 people died skateboarding.

Please note, for all these sports the numbers are generated by only one country.

So, in the 11 year period that saw two MMA deaths in the entire world, we can also see the following estimations of death within the USA.

Boxing 44

Baseball 66

Football 220

Skateboarding 462

Why the moves to ban MMA events? I suggest we ban Football and Skateboards instead.

And don’t even get me started on cars.