MMA vs Boxing: Which Is Safer and More Suitable for Beginners?

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• No matter what sport you decide to learn, MMA or boxing, you’ll have to accept a certain amount of danger, injury-wise.
• Whether you should pick MMA or boxing to satisfy your needs depends on your goal of embarking on combat sports.
• The availability of gyms in your neighborhood will have a big impact because embarking on a combat sport can’t be done on your own.

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Photo: MMA fight
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For more than a century, boxing has been a popular form of domestic entertainment. We still find ourselves on the tip of our seats, wanting more when watching, say, a heavyweight championship fight. Despite all the excitement and hype, time and brute force haven’t been kind to its practitioners, raising serious safety concerns.

Many boxing enthusiasts are switching to MMA as an alternative due to its growing popularity. It’s a sport that offers far more than boxing and incorporates all of its best aspects. The goal of this MMA vs boxing post is to explain why MMA is safer than boxing, because it is. Here’s the answer to the question from the text title, right away!
But before that, let’s clarify some stuff…

Should You Learn MMA or Boxing First?

Suppose you were never exposed to combat sports. You’ve never practiced any form of martial arts and are a total novice. You want to learn self-defense, and you want it to be balanced and useful in a variety of situations.

MMA vs boxing: Which one should you learn then, to satisfy your needs?

This question and those like it are timeless. Many people who wish to increase their level of fitness find them bothersome. It’s a more challenging topic to answer than some people realize, which is why it’s asked so often. But it all comes down to one main tenet: What’s your goal?

It doesn’t appear easy, right? Well, you wouldn’t be asking this question if you were certain of your goals. Combat sports enthusiasts and beginners torment themselves over such things. “MMA seems like enjoyment, but boxing is a technical one”, “I like boxing, but I think MMA is probably more practical”, and “A base is what I want, but I’d like to move into MMA” are some of the numerous other iterations on the same topic.

Let’s get something out of the way immediately. First and foremost, the top MMA fighters are experts in something combat-related. Indeed, they have a particular basis before branching out. Okay, so you don’t want or can’t be Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov, but you still need to understand certain striking techniques, wrestling, etc., in order to learn MMA. Therefore, one solution to a MMA vs boxing dilemma is that you’re okay if you want to practice boxing and then transition into MMA later. If you’re physically fit and willing to put in the effort to accept the grind and learn grappling, then go ahead and try it; you’ll be alright because boxers are also accustomed to the grind.

The availability of gyms in your neighborhood will also have a big impact because embarking on any sport as a beginner, let alone a combat sport, can’t be done on your own. Which local gym is the best? Not the most attractive or the most well-marketed, but the one (in your neighborhood) that has active or retired fighters as trainers or active or competitive fighters training there. That’s the gym you ought to sign up with. You’ll probably be well-prepared if it has qualified trainers on staff. The same applies to a boxing gym. If there are multiple such gyms, you put on your sweatpants and visit them all. Approach trainers and express your interest in training, as well as that you want to test out a few classes. The majority of gyms will gladly allow you to attend at least one introduction session or class. Decide which you want after meeting with trainers, speaking with fighters, etc.

If you’re having trouble deciding between a few gyms, congratulations! You’re a natural fighter! Which gym’s culture is superior? The one that makes you feel most comfortable. And for the great majority of beginners, this is typically the line that separates things. Which gym will put you under more pressure, push you harder, and encourage you more? The power lies there.

We assume that your goal is to learn self-defense rather than compete and find your name among the list of participants at MMA tournaments whose matches are offered on MMA bookmakers. OK, begin training, get experience, learn how to maneuver, and develop your shooting and punching skills. Getting into fights is the next phase. You don’t want that, we know. Either MMA or boxing will quickly teach you to be able to handle the typical chump. Although these are excellent self-defense techniques, self-defense is much more than just fighting. Bear that in mind.

However, you have to fight in order to learn how to fight. Therefore, some stress inoculation will be necessary to get you ready for a serious self-defense scenario. This will take the shape of a planned competition versus someone who genuinely wishes to harm you. Actual competitive stress is about as good as it gets, but nothing can really prepare you for the abruptness, intense discomfort, and ferocity of a life-or-death self-defense situation.

Although the learning curve is longer, MMA will provide you with more tools to use. There’s a lot to cover, though. There are flaws in boxing because, unlike MMA, it doesn’t include grappling. Instead, it teaches you how to move, protect, and punch—in that order, unlike what many people think. However, it’s superior to a lot of the alternatives. Generally speaking, you don’t want to be on the ground for an extended period of time in a street fight scenario.

Choose the gym that’s most enjoyable and has the most people you like if you’re exercising purely for fitness and something to do. It’s as easy as that. Everything should be fine if you explain that you’re exercising for fitness and seeking something novel and enjoyable. Make it obvious that sparring isn’t what you want.

As long as you know what you want, and you’re aware of the risks, boxing and MMA are fantastic activities to participate in. However, nobody can decide for you; we can only provide you with info; you’re responsible for choosing your own course, including the safety matters.

MMA vs Boxing: Important Distinctions

While MMA incorporates a variety of techniques, such as boxing strikes, kicks, knee strikes, elbow strikes, and ground combat (such as jiu-jitsu and wrestling), boxing is a combat sport that solely concentrates on punches.

Although this technical variation broadens the scope of MMA, it also affects training regimens and safety.

What about the safety matters in MMA vs boxing? MMA is safer than boxing for the following primary reasons.

The Distribution of Hits Makes Boxing a Sport With Significantly Greater Rate of Head Injuries

When we see blood, we frequently think of damage and proportionality. The more damage someone has sustained, the more they bleed. There’s a valid explanation behind this. It’s an impulse from evolution. Blood is so vivid crimson for a reason. It’s a warning from nature. It’s, in a way, our basic nature; we couldn’t survive without it.

Beyond casual observation, however, there’s much more severe damage occurring beneath the surface for which there’s no obvious sign. Although they are invisible, concussions may be a more serious issue. It’s likely that a boxer can continue fighting without facing significant long-term health risks if they develop a cut on their cheeks that are heavily bleeding. There will be very few, if any, consequences of such superficial damage. The consequences of severe head trauma, on the other hand, persist long after retirement and can end a career. For beginners, it’s a big warning that head trauma can affect the way they live even long after they decide to stop practicing boxing.

How does that happen? Punches in boxing are mainly directed at the head and body, which raises the possibility of brain damage from repeated head strikes. Because MMA hits are dispersed across the body, injuries to one region are less common.

MMA Offers a Variety of Ways to Win, Including Quick Stops and Submissions

You can win a battle in MMA without using a single blow. Jiu-jitsu practitioners and wrestlers, for example, are ground-based fighters who can shoot in for a double-leg takedown, expertly seize their opponent’s back, and then sink in a rear-naked choke. MMA bouts have been won with little to no striking, albeit this is uncommon. Most of the time, neither fighter is hurt and is prepared to fight again. The most harmful and injury-causing method of winning a fight is by striking. Even so, submission tactics that don’t involve direct punches, like joint locks and chokes, are permitted in MMA. The referee can swiftly end a battle if one of the fighters is at a disadvantage in order to avoid too much damage.

Because of this, MMA is far safer only by virtue of its options. Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling are unique classes of martial arts where you can train with maximum intensity and little chance of harm, according to anyone who has ever been on the mats. For instance, because the potential for harm is so great in striking-based martial arts, you can only infrequently increase the intensity. Hence, if you’re a beginner and you want to devote your training time to MMA, consider going to jiu-jitsu first. That way, you’ll learn how to protect yourself and then how to practice MMA safer.

Injuries from Boxing Are More Serious

Back to talking about injuries. MMA practitioners are more likely to get hurt during a fight, according to research that looks at certain post-fight statistics. A Canadian study conducted in Alberta says that 49.8% of boxers and 59.4% of MMA competitors had some kind of injury during their fight. But in boxing, the severity of the injuries was far higher. By using “loss of consciousness” as a metric, boxers were at 7.1 percent, while MMA fighters were at 4.2 percent. After a fight, boxers were also far more likely to receive a medical suspension.

When it comes to combat sports, the severity of an injury is crucial. Smaller wounds don’t last long and heal considerably more quickly. It not only determines whether the fighter can sustain their career in a healthy way or not, or whether the beginner can keep on practicing combat sports, but it also impacts the sport’s legitimacy for events like the Olympic Games.

When It Comes to Head Injuries, Boxing Gloves Are More Dangerous

The primary risk of striking the head when wearing boxing gloves is the acceleration, which in turn affects the force a fighter can produce. Because boxing gloves are just heavier, we can easily conclude that this will result in higher force by applying Newton’s Second Law. The brain rattles inside the head much more fiercely as a result.

Boxing gloves are more padded, which might result in more intense impacts because of the wider contact surface, whereas MMA gloves are smaller and give the hands more movement.

The primary benefit of wearing boxing gloves over MMA gloves is that the former shields the fighter’s knuckles from harm that might result from a punch hit. In contrast to not wearing gloves, the opponent is shielded from the sharp knucklebones in the hand. Due to their sharpness, these bones can typically result in cuts that finish a combat. Finishing a boxer with a cut around the eye is detrimental to their abilities, which is why this is so bad from a sporting standpoint. The goal of combat sports is obvious from their name: as they are a sport, the goal of any competition should be to fairly assess a fighter’s abilities.

Conversely, MMA gloves are lighter and denser. Although they don’t offer the same level of hand protection as boxing gloves, the two fighters’ exchange will cause significantly less head trauma. According to the British Medical Association, wearing gloves doesn’t lower your chance of brain damage. No, they may actually make a brain injury more likely. The Nevada State Athletic Commission conducted a five-year research study on boxing injuries. They came to the conclusion that there was a correlation between boxing injury rates and glove padding.

Training for Boxing Is Much More Difficult

A significant portion of the injuries are incurred during training or sparring, not during the actual fight. Sometimes a certain intensity is needed to develop a level of boxing proficiency that would hold up in the ring. It’s impossible to totally prevent head injuries, even with the greatest protection available.

On the other hand, takedowns and groundwork make up a sizable portion of MMA training. It’s possible to sustain intensity without getting hurt, and even if you do get hurt, it’s only a limb injury, which is far less serious than head damage.

MMA’s Advantages Over Boxing for Novices

Some people wonder whether MMA is really superior to boxing for beginners or not. Yes, it is. Here are some of its advantages:

• More diverse training: MMA incorporates techniques from a variety of disciplines, including boxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. As a result, the training becomes more engaging, adaptable, and dynamic.
• Flexibility for varying skill levels: Because of its great adaptability, MMA enables novices to exercise safely while gaining endurance, strength, and flexibility. Additionally, it’s a fantastic choice for anyone who wishes to compete or just enhance their general health and well-being.
• Development to the fullest: MMA offers a more thorough workout by fusing striking and ground skills, which enhances confidence, balance, and coordination.
• Adaptive self-protection: MMA provides more varied skills for self-defense in everyday settings, particularly for women and children, because of its broad spectrum of methods.

MMA vs Boxing: Pros and Cons of Their Training as a Beginner

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are risks associated with both boxing and MMA. Boxing injuries are mostly focused on the head and can persist for years after a fighter retires or recreational practitioners stop training, but MMA injuries are often more common, mild, and limb-oriented. If certain precautions are taken, there may be safer ways to practice boxing. Defensive boxing, as demonstrated by numerous fighters, isn’t only a valid tactic for winning bouts but also a wise technique to safeguard oneself for celebrations after retirement.

In general, the statistics show that MMA is the safer sport overall. No matter what sport you decide to prepare for, MMA or boxing, you’ll have to accept a certain amount of danger, injury-wise. Hopefully, you may now choose the combat type that’s most appropriate for you with greater knowledge acquired from the article.