ArticleSports health
Head Trauma Exposure in Mixed Martial Arts Varies According to Sex and Weight Class.
Article in Sports health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- How Risky Is Mixed Martial Arts? Injury Rates and Patterns in Competitive Versus Recreational Athletes.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Factors associated with concussion during combatives activities in a military training environment.Journal of sport and health science · 2025Article
- Injuries in Mixed Martial Arts After Adoption of the Unified Rules of MMA: A Systematic Review.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Review
- Incidence of Health Problems in Australian Mixed Martial Arts and Muay Thai Competitors: A 14-Month Study of 26 Combat Sports Events.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Traditional Chinese martial art Wushu to improve the mental state and physical fitness of students: designing space for optimal practice and training.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The Effect of Protective Mat Thickness on the Upper Limb Strike Force Simulation in Combat Sports and Self Defense.Journal of human kinetics · 2024Article
- Neuroimaging, wearable sensors, and blood-based biomarkers reveal hyperacute changes in the brain after sub-concussive impacts.Brain multiphysics · 2023Article
- Exploratory Systematic Review of Mixed Martial Arts: An Overview of Performance of Importance Factors with over 20,000 Athletes.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- An acute bout of controlled subconcussive impacts can alter dynamic cerebral autoregulation indices: a preliminary investigation.European journal of applied physiology · 2022Article
- Concussion vs. resignation by submission: Technical-tactical behavior analysis considering injury in mixed martial arts.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Prevalence, Patterns, and Characteristics of Eye Injuries in Professional Mixed Martial Arts.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2021Article
- Effect of Weight Class on Regional Brain Volume, Cognition, and Other Neuropsychiatric Outcomes among Professional Fighters.Neurotrauma reports · 2021Article
- Upper Limb Strikes Reactive Forces in Mix Martial Art Athletes during Ground and Pound Tactics.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Comparisons of Pacing Strategy and Technical-Tactical Behaviors in Female Mixed Martial Arts Rounds.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBrain injury arising from head trauma is a major concern in mixed martial arts (MMA) because knockout (KO) and technical knockout (TKO) are frequent fight outcomes. Previous studies have shown a high incidence of matches ending due to strikes to the head but did not consider weight categories and female fights. This study aimed at analyzing match stoppages in MMA and the exposure to head trauma distinguished by sex and weight categories. HYPOTHESIS: The heavier the weight class, the greater the risk and incidence of head trauma will be, regardless of sex. STUDY
designDescriptive epidemiology study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.
methodsPublicly available data of 167 MMA events from 1903 fights between 2014 and 2017 were assessed, comprising 8 male and 2 female weight categories.
resultsThe combined KO/TKO rates per 100 athlete-exposures in the middleweight (19.53), light heavyweight (20.8), and heavyweight (26.09) divisions were greater than previously reported for MMA. While stoppage via KO/TKO occurred in 7.9% of combats in the female strawweight division, it occurred in 52.1% of the male heavyweight fights. The male middleweight ( P = 0.001), light heavyweight ( P < 0.001), and heavyweight divisions ( P < 0.001) had an increased risk of KO/TKO due to strikes to the head by 80%, 100%, and 206%, respectively. The risk in the flyweight division decreased 62% ( P = 0.001). All categories were compared with the lightweight division. The female bantamweight category presented a 221% increased risk in matches ending due to KO/TKO compared with the strawweight division ( P = 0.012). Punches to the head were the major technique used to end a combat via KO/TKO, regardless of sex and weight class.
conclusionHead injury risk and incidence varies considerably according to sex and weight category in MMA. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The analysis of head trauma exposure in MMA athletes should be distinguished according to sex and weight category.
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