Dana White On Concussions: "The UFC Is Safer Than The NFL"

[AP_RESURRECTION]

There's been a ton of AIDS and cancer research. They must be the safest diseases in the world, yah?

wow that was a swing and a miss

 

[JonesBones]

There's been a ton of AIDS and cancer research. They must be the safest diseases in the world, yah?

What does that have to do with anything? The point is that Dana hasn't actually done any research to see how it is affecting his fighters. The NFL has and actually changed many rules.

 

[JonesBones]

The NFL spent tens of millions on concussion research and came to the conclusion that football and concussions were unrelated.

The Tabacco companies spent tens of millions on cancer research and came to the conclusion that Tabacco and cancer were unrelated.

See any similarities?

Do you have a source for that?

 

[countswagula]

I think that's pretty much common sense. In any two sports where concussion are a relatively common occurrence the one where athletes perform 3-4 times a year tops will be safer(or rather, impose less cumulative damage in the log run) than the one where they perform every other week.

 

[FrodoFraggins]

So he actually has no scientific evidence to back up this fact?

Also, the NFL has spent tens of millions on concussion research for its players. The UFC has done what?

lol. safest sport in the world!

Such a statement is going to come back and haunt him. They are so short sighted with stuff like this. Within the next 20 years they are going to receive a class action suit from former fighters. Concussions are far worse that we ever imagined. Getting kicked or punched in the head obviously causes concussions.

 

[brnforce]

That is really scientific.

:redface:

I didn't realize Dana was a scientist.

If you only factor in the actual UFC Fights he would be right.

But when you factor in the training for MMA involves a lot of sparring and being hit in the head.... donno.

Good point!

soft helmets would pretty much negate any head injuries in the nfl, but then there would be no cool sounds, so yea NFL dont' really care, just like how they wear pink for breast cancer.

If they had soft or frangible helmets they run other risks. What happens if 4, 350 pound linemen are laying on your head? The NFL is trying to improve everything and make it safer. It's just that there will always be inherent risks with sports.

 

[aker2703]

NFL has about 1700 players that are playing for 20-24 weeks a year (including pre and post season). The UFC has what 150 guys that are active 1-4 times per year.

And it depends on what you define as a serious injury.

Also the NFL brings in what 9 billion in revenue that is split almost 50/50 with the players, UFC books are closed but I'm fairly sure the split is not so even.

1. the UFC has about 450-475 fighters

2. if the NFL revenue was not so much, and they needed foreign growth, and that foreign growth cost hundreds of millions, i bet they would not be paying a 50/50 revenue either.

 

[random nerd]

in general, if Dana White says it, i just accept it as a fact and dont think twice about it.

 

[Heat13]

What does that have to do with anything? The point is that Dana hasn't actually done any research to see how it is affecting his fighters. The NFL has and actually changed many rules.

What research do you need to do? All the medical stuff that happens after a fight makes sure the fighter is ok before he gets in contact again, but like other people say a football player will get dazed and be on the field after a couple of plays.

 

[JonesBones]

1. the UFC has about 450-475 fighters

2. if the NFL revenue was not so much, and they needed foreign growth, and that foreign growth cost hundreds of millions, i bet they would not be paying a 50/50 revenue either.

The players get 50-50 because they have a union, and will do things like strike if their demands aren't met. They have collective bargaining. UFC fighters do not.

 

[Mad Jitsu]

Do you have a source for that?

NFL Board Paid $2M to Players While League Denied Football-Concussion Link

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...while-league-denied-football-concussion-link/

Yet in a series of scientific papers from 2003 to 2009, members of the NFL’s Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee wrote that “no NFL player” had experienced chronic brain damage from repeated concussions. The committee, first formed in 1994, asserted that NFL players were different than boxers, whose susceptibility to brain injuries caused by the sport has been documented since the 1920s.

“Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis,” members of the NFL committee wrote in a December 2005 paper in Neurosurgery, the official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

The league first acknowledged in December 2009 that repeated concussions could lead to long-term mental impairment.

Jason Luckasevic, a Pittsburgh attorney who represents some of the first players to sue the NFL over the concussion issue, said it was hypocritical for the NFL to award disability benefits based on football-related brain damage while, at the same time, denying there was a link to the sport.

“That’s completely fraudulent — you say these people have cognitive problems from playing football and award them benefits, and yet you lie and write studies telling the public that’s not the case,” said Luckasevic. “I don’t know that it gets more despicable than that.”

That same year(2004), the NFL published the 10th installment in its series on concussions research in the medical journal “Neurosurgery.”

The paper, whose authors included three members of the league’s Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, asserted that chronic brain injury “has never been reported in American football players.”

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

Anyone see the Cincinnati-Duke bowl game? (Not NFL I know) but one of the Duke guys collided head to head with an opposing player, and was on queer street for a good minute. Then he was back in the very next play.

right but these points are bringing the discourse in the wrong direction - bickering over which sport is safer is not the point

they are both cleraly pretty dangerous - i dont see what the point is choosing which is more dangerous

we need to find out more aobut long term damage - studies would help - and then structure rules to hopefully save fighters health

only a minority of people care about long term damage over today's show, but its probably the right thing to do to learn more about it and not just claim that you're safer than another vicioulsy violent sport as if thats something to hang your hat on

the commissions are what prevent the fightesr from fighting sooner - i would speculate that the ufc would allow much more lea way if there was no commission, esp when their profits are high in return

 

[kmasonbx]

It is impossible to know until there are brain studies done on deceased MMA fighters. However, the fact that NFL players can get a concussion and play next week while MMA fighters get a concussion and have no contact for 30 days makes MMA look safer in that regard.

I read a report a couple weeks ago where 34 ex-football players had their brains scanned and 33 of them had CTE. Many were offensive and defensive linemen who never suffer big hits but constant small hits. Some of these players never played football beyond high school even.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

american football has to be one of the toughest sports in the world, is really brutal, way more than other "similar" sports with much less padding, the rules is what make the difference, for example, in rugby you cannot just go full speed and crush like a human bullet , because that is what the padding turns a 250 pounds dude running a full speed with a hellmet the size of a house... not only that, if a reciever jumps to catch the ball, he is getting tackle from multiple positions by those guys in the air...

 

[Vaughany]

Love this argument. Dana does it everytime. But why is NFL relevant?!! It's like Alex Jones saying there are more deaths from knives than there are guns. Yeah that's great and all, but it doesnt mean it's ok then just because there is something worse!

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

Love this argument. Dana does it everytime. But why is NFL relevant?!! It's like Alex Jones saying there are more deaths from knives than there are guns. Yeah that's great and all, but it doesnt mean it's ok then just because there is something worse!

i knew there were a few other people who would see it the same way i do

this argument is pathetic, but also its very entertaining how others eat it up

this is a commonly used logical fallacy - people usually just use it bc they are dumb, but people like dana white know how to use it knowing that everyone will fall for the fallacy - its beautiful to see used in practice and having the desired effects

 

[Mad Jitsu]

i knew there were a few other people who would see it the same way i do

this argument is pathetic, but also its very entertaining how others eat it up

this is a commonly used logical fallacy - people usually just use it bc they are dumb, but people like dana white know how to use it knowing that everyone will fall for the fallacy - its beautiful to see in real life

Most people who complain about the brutality of MMA are big football fans.

 

[johnsq316]

NFL Board Paid $2M to Players While League Denied Football-Concussion Link

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...while-league-denied-football-concussion-link/

You're cutting the argument off at the pass.

That was 2005 when they made a preliminary claim of no link. Since then, as more research has been done, everyone has become more aware of the risks of long term damage from concussions, and even repeated non-concussive blows to the head.

 

[aker2703]

american football has to be one of the toughest sports in the world, is really brutal, way more than other "similar" sports with much less padding, the rules is what make the difference, for example, in rugby you cannot just go full speed and crush like a human bullet , because that is what the padding turns a 250 pounds dude running a full speed with a hellmet the size of a house... not only that, if a reciever jumps to catch the ball, he is getting tackle from multiple positions by those guys in the air...

listen NFL football is tough as fuck, but the bolded part is nonsense.

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

Most people who complain about the brutality of MMA are big football fans.

so waht? also, i enjoy how you just say stuff like that with no evidence - dana white is talking to people at your level of intelligence