Too soon?

In July Ben Askren faced Jorge Masvidal in an anticipated welterweight fight in the UFC. This fight saw Masvidal land a jumping knee, earning him a victory over Askren in just 5 seconds. It was a big knock out and Askren was down for a long time. Just three months later, Askren is back in the octagon, is this too soon? Considering that 5 boxers have died in the last 12 months from injuries sustained in the ring, yes, I think it is.

Askren faces a grappler in his return to the octagon, so you would think that strikes to the head should not be too much of an issue. However, when a wrestler and BJJ guy fight in MMA, it usually ends up being a (technically) ugly striking match. The wrestler doesn’t want to take the BJJ guy down as that is where he is strongest, and the BJJ guy can’t get the wrestler down, so it ends up being a rather boring fight. This analysis is based on the fights we’ve seen in this scenario. That aside, the real problem that is occurring in a number of sports at the moment is head injuries. You can see in the news that there is another fighter in hospital from head injuries after a fight. There are brain bleeds, precautionary scans and then fighters in a coma or even death. One thing I am not sure of is if these injuries are happening more or if it is being publicised more and is more of a topic these days – perhaps it has become much more visible than previously. 

The problem with head injuries is that affects athletes at the top level, all the way down to the amateur level. In a previous blog, I wrote about the corporate fights and how there is a disproportionate amount of brain injuries from these fights. This continues up the food chain to the pro fighters. When you are making a living from the sport it is a little harder to say no to a pay-check because you don’t know when the next opportunity will come. As people are working their way up the ladder, you can see where the pressure is to fight. As you do not want to lose your title, or a top 5 ranking, you feel you have to take the fight. As fighters are very competitive, they do not want to seem soft by not accepting a fight. This attitude is part of what caused Askren to have a quick turn around after a terrible knockout, he wants to get back into the winning column.

It almost seems that fighters are more worried about infection than potential brain damage. If a fighter turns up to training or a fight with an open wound or a staph infection, then more often than not, they are asked to not participate or at the very least cover it up. Then when competing, you get blood tests to make sure you are healthy to fight and are not contagious (HEP A, B, C, HIV). But there is no test to see if your brain is healthy enough to compete. After a bad knockout, the fighter has scans but once that is done, that seems to be it. It is not like there are regular scans or a certain level of injury that stops people from training/competing. As you will know, the decisions you make as a 20-year-old are different to the ones you make as a 40-year-old. This means that a 20-year-old fighter is writing checks that the 40 – 50-year-old person has to cash. Given their time again, I am sure a high percentage of fighters would have made different calls during their fight career. 

Fighting, by its very nature is a dangerous sport and the fighters know what they are in for and accept a certain level of risk. But for promoters to put fighters at more risk by putting them back in the ring 3 months after a shocking knockout is not good. However, there are many people that should stop the fighter taking that fight. The trainer, the manager, training partners, even the family should have a say. In saying that though, we have to keep in mind that fighters can be very stubborn and will do want they want regardless. Therefore, fight sports may need a testing system to protect the fighters; brain scans or mandatory stand down periods that are fully enforced rather than just guidelines. The Askren fight has not happened yet (at the time of this writing) and I hope nothing happens to him outside of great submission from Damian Maia as I like him more. 

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor