When the objective is to hit your opponent more than they hit you, or finish them by rendering unconsciousness or submission, you have a very specific set of dangers to consider. Combat sports events can often be marred by tragedy ….
The subject of tragic injury or death in combat sports is not one that gets addressed very often. The fact is that fans come to see their favorite fighters put their own lives on the line for the sake of entertainment, which is a very brave gamble.
Sometimes the gamble pays off, but on the odd occasion the milk turns sour. The very thin line between taking the human body to the limit, and going over it, can happen with one punch, although a lot of times there are mitigating circumstances too.
Rules and regulations are commonplace in legitimate combat sports genres, but even so the pugilists involved are never free from the inherent risk associated with the fight game. The early days of boxing saw countless tragedies in the ring, and that was sometimes down to poor ring design, but a lot of the time the referees would allow the fight to go on far too long.
There’s nothing pleasurable about watching such terrible events, yet hundreds of thousands have watched fighters give their lives in harrowing incidents, and still tune in to watch the next big fight on PPV.
Such is the dark lure of the fight industry, but the effects are certainly not limited to, or the most impacting, on fans of the sport. As you’ll see throughout this article, many times the fighters who have been on the other side of the ring feel the most pain.
We’ve compiled a picture show and also video footage of the most tragic boxing and MMA fights over the years. This is very graphic viewing.
Much respect to fighters who continually put their health at risk in the arena of combat sports.
