MMA Fighter Dies After Debut Match

[savafan]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/28/michael-kirkham-dead-mma-_n_628532.html


COLUMBIA, S.C. — A mixed martial arts fighter has died from brain injuries in his professional debut.

[Jack Burton]

Savage sport, ban it. srs

[danken12]

Savage sport, ban it. srs

I can't tell if this is serious or not, but I hope not.

[Jack Burton]

Definitely serious, no different than a sanctioned bar room brawl. Also, I think Dana White is scum.

[guttle11]

I believe this is the second death as a result of an MMA fight in this country in the modern (after the McCain stuff). That's fewer deaths than arena football. Fact is, sanctioned MMA bouts have a very good safety record. If any combative sport needs to be attacked, it's Toughman.

Thoughts and prayers to the deceased and his family.

[kbrake]

Definitely serious, no different than a sanctioned bar room brawl. Also, I think Dana White is scum.

Just because you don't understand a sport doesn't mean it is "sanctioned bar room brawl" It is a fantastic sport with highly skilled athletes. The safety record on MMA is very good. As far as Dana White I like him but I understand why he is not for everyone.

[dougdirt]

Definitely serious, no different than a sanctioned bar room brawl. Also, I think Dana White is scum.

I get the feeling you have never watched an actual MMA fight sanctioned by a state athletic commission. I have seen a barroom brawl. I have never seen someone hit with a glass bottle in an MMA fight. The guys wear gloves that cover the knuckles. The guys are not allowed kicking in the head when an opponent is on the ground. The guys are not allowed to punch in the back of the head. They aren't allowed to bite. No low blows. There is a referee.

[Javy Pornstache]

lol @ "sanctioned barroom brawl", you probably think the earth is flat as well. I do agree that Dana White is scum though, but probably not for the reason you do.

[Degenerate39]

Didn't they try to ban boxing years ago for being too dangerous? Then what does that make the whole MMA and UFC crap?

[Javy Pornstache]

I believe this is the second death as a result of an MMA fight in this country in the modern (after the McCain stuff). That's fewer deaths than arena football. Fact is, sanctioned MMA bouts have a very good safety record. If any combative sport needs to be attacked, it's Toughman.

Thoughts and prayers to the deceased and his family.

Agreed, Toughman is a joke, and this is just the second death via MMA fight, the other being Sam Vazquez in Texas about three years ago. MMA is way safer as a sport to boxing... to an outsider who doesn't know better, that seems surprising, but being hit with 4oz gloves means a knockout is much easier than in boxing. And getting knocked out, while sometimes looking harsh to watch in the present tense, is a lot easier on your health and head than the constant abuse of being hit by 14/16/20 oz gloves that don't KO you usually but cause cumulative damage to the brain over a prolonged period.

[improbus]

I have to admit that I dont know anything about MMA, but I do get the feeling that competitors dying as a direct result of a brawl has been the elephant in the room. Also, comparing MMA to boxing seems like comparing NASCAR to IndyCar wrecks, one may be slightly safer, but you are still hitting a wall at 230 or 180 mph.

[westofyou]

Didn't they try to ban boxing years ago for being too dangerous? Then what does that make the whole MMA and UFC crap?

Yeah, late 19th century, they put gloves on them and made certain punches and knockdown rules to limit damage

[Jack Burton]

Lol, I have quite an extensive background in wrestling, therefore I would say I "understand" the sport of mma. Considering that wrestlers seem to dominate the sport.

I've been to some of these so called "sanctioned" fights and they leave a lot to be desired. You do realize that not all these events are ran by the UFC or Strikeforce.

[bucksfan2]

I don't like MMA. I don't like knocking someone down then hoping onto and trying to beat the bloody hell out of them. To me it is more barbaric than sport.

However I think the UFC does a pretty good job of officiating themselves. They do a good job in have competent officials there ready to hop in when one fighter is out. That said I think as good as the officials are, they often stop the fight one punch to late.

[kbrake]

Lol, I have quite an extensive background in wrestling, therefore I would say I "understand" the sport of mma. Considering that wrestlers seem to dominate the sport.

I've been to some of these so called "sanctioned" fights and they leave a lot to be desired. You do realize that not all these events are ran by the UFC or Strikeforce.

My point was if you understand the sport you wouldn't compare it to bar room brawls.

I just find it fascinating because regardless of your background in wrestling or anything else you better take some time to learn to at least defend other forms of fighting. I think its too visually violent for some people and I understand that but its much more than bar room brawls.

As far as the lower levels of MMA I really can't say much. I honestly don't watch the low level fights. I like watching the top talent in any sport and in MMA its in the big organizations.

[Kingspoint]

Didn't they try to ban boxing years ago for being too dangerous?

Yes. Howard Cosell led the campaign.

Cosell denounced professional boxing in a November 26, 1982 bout between Larry Holmes and a clearly out-matched Randall "Tex" Cobb at the Astrodome. The fight was held two weeks after the fatal fight between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim, and Cosell famously asked the rhetorical question,

“I wonder if that referee (Steve Crosson) is [conducting] an advertisement for the abolition of the very sport that he is a part of?”

Cosell, horrified over the brutality of the one-sided fight said that if the referee did not stop the fight, that he would never broadcast a professional fight again. Richard Green, who officiated the fatal Mancini-Kim fight two weeks earlier and was the reason for Cosell's concern, committed suicide less than a year after Cosell's remark on July 1, 1983.

[cincyforever]

I wonder how this does not happen more than it does.