Players always look to injure others players in hockey... that rarely happens in MMA.
You have to be kidding right?
Of the 642 matches, 182 (28%) were stopped because of head impact (punch, knee strikes, elbow strikes, kicks, slam to ground or head stomp), of which 62 (34%) involved a knockout and 120 (65%) a technical knockout. One hundred and six (16%) of the bouts were stopped because of musculoskeletal stress (elbow, ankle, shoulder and knee locks causing hyper-mobilisation of the joint through forceful distraction, hyperextension and/or rotational manipulation; and neck cranks – forceful manipulation of the opponent’s head on neck). Ninety-one (14%) were stopped through the application of a neck choke and 83 (13%) because of miscellaneous trauma. The rest of the matches ended because the match time was up or competitors were disqualified.
A total of 171 MMA matches involving 220 different competitors took place during the study period, producing 96 injuries to 78 fighters. The overall injury rate was 28.6 injuries per 100 fight participations or 12.5 injuries per 100 competitor rounds. The main findings of the study were:
* Of the 171 matches fought, 69 (40%) ended with at least one injured fighter.
* The majority of recorded injuries were to the facial region. Facial cuts were the most common injury (48%), followed by hand injury (13%), nose (10%) and eye (8%).
* After adjusting for weight and match outcome, older age was associated with significantly increased risk of injury.
* Competitors who lost a match by knockout or technical knockout ran a greater risk of injury.
* Incidence of injury increased with the length of the fight; matches lasting four or five rounds were more likely to include a fighter who suffered an injury.
In conclusion, with an overall injury rate of 28.6 injuries per 100 fight participations, MMA competitions demonstrate a high overall rate of injury, but in keeping with other combat sports involving striking.
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/mma-injury-report
I never said injuries don't happen in MMA, of course they do, it's one of the most brutal sport out there... What I said is that hockey players look to injure others when it's not necessary at all, while in MMA, fighters rarely look to injure others. There's a referee watching them to make sure that a fighter doesn't get beaten too much and jumps in as soon as he judges someone can't defent themselves intelligently anymore.
I've never seen a hockey referee jump in front of a player that is just about to cross-check someone else behind the head, or pummel someone's head into the boards with a 20ft to build up speed.
The goal of MMA is to force the other guy to quit, one way or another... This may result in injuries, but the goal certainly isn't to injure the other guy. On the other hand, hockey has NOTHING to do with violence, yet violence has been a major part of it for years and years, just because people think it's cool. In all reality, hockey could be played with very limited contact, just like basketball. But people's thirst for violence makes it so that the minute to start taking away the violence out of it, people will lose their interest in hockey, and quick.
Someone said MMA was entertainment for neandertals, well hockey is just as bad, if not more. Why? Because violence is absolutely not necessary in hockey yet people crave that violence. In MMA, violence is an integral part of it, so there's no way around it.
To me, people that like MMA just aren't fooling themselves... They like violence, sure, but they mostly appreciate the tactical battles going on... Take out the violence out of hockey and we'll see how many non-neandertals will still appreciate the sport. Even in international competitions, there's a fair amount of hitting going on.
That's it, now I'm done with this topic.