A recent study was published tracking weight cuts / weight gains for Muay Thai athletes to see if there was any relationship with weight cutting and winning. In short there was. In the study, titled Rapid Weight Changes and Competitive Outcomes in Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts: A 14-Month Study of 24 Combat Sports … More Study – Muay Thai Fighters Who Cut/Gain More Weight Have Advantage

Today it was revealed that Brazilian fighter Daiane Silva, who was making her Bellator/PFL debut, fell into a coma during a rapid extreme weight cut. The news was confirmed by Cris Cyborg’s MMA promotion This tragedy occured a full month ago but is just making public headlines today. In a concerning twist to this tragedy … More PFL/Bellator Fighter Reportedly in Coma From Rapid Extreme Weight Cut

A recent study was published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine reviewing recent studies addressing female concussion rates and outcomes compared to males. In the article, titled Concussion in Female Athletes of Contact Sports – A Scoping Review, the authors reviewed 22 studies on the subject published in recent years. In short they found … More Study Review – Female Contact Sport Athletes Suffer More Concussions With Worse Outcomes Than Men

Headaches, suicidal ideation, depression, traumatic brain injury, likely CTE, financial hardship and outright disability. These are facts contained in sworn declarations by UFC veterans in a recent court filing in the Le v. Zuffa class action lawsuit. By quick background the UFC is facing two class action lawsuits alleging they unlawfully suppressed fighter pay via … More UFC Vets Declare They Are Broke and Broken

Dr. Chris Nowitzki just shared some useful observations and a new study on X. CTE is caused by repeated hits to the head or other serial brain rattling events. Some like to speculate that other factors cause the disease, often without evidence. Drug and alcohol abuse often come into the conversation. A new study was … More Study – Don’t Blame Booze For CTE

Earlier this year the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports voted to update the unified rules. The 12-6 elbow was removed as a foul and the situations where a fighter can be kicked and kneed to the head have been expanded. Today the California State Athletic Commission with the assistance of referee Mike Beltran … More California Releases Explainer Video on MMA’s Brand New Unified Rules

Today it was revealed that a new deal was reached in one of the antitrust lawsuits against the UFC. In an SEC filing the following was revealed: As previously disclosed, TKO Operating Company, LLC (f/k/a Zuffa Parent, LLC) (“TKO OpCo”), a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”), and/or certain of its affiliates, including … More New Settlement Proposed For UFC Antitrust Lawsuit

When you design a “sport” intended to give defenseless participants brain injury you unsurprisingly get brain injury. A lot of it. Those are the findings of a recent research letter reviewing objective signs of concussion amongst participants in PowerSlap. These findings are important because the promoters of PowerSlap try to emphasize its relative safety compared … More Study – PowerSlap Has Absurd Rates of Brain Injury

A study was published this month in the European Journal of Neurology suggesting that EEG readings may have promise in showing early signs of CTE. In the study, titled ‘Knock down the brain’: a nonlinear analysis of electroencephalography to study the effects of sub-concussion in boxers, the authors selected 21 boxers. They seperated the athletes … More Study – EEG Readings May Help Screen for Early Signs of CTE

An interesting study was published this month in the Archives of Neuropsychology breaking reviewing boxing brain trauma studies from the 20th century. In the study, titled Neurological Problems in Boxers during the 20th Century: a Review and Synthesis, the authors reviewed 45 articles addressing brain trauma in boxers published between 1928-1999. The goal was to … More Study – Fewer Neurological Problems Found in Boxers in Later 20th Century