Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2018 Nov 14:1-22. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2017-0131. [Epub ahead of print]

A 12-Year Cohort Study of Doc-Stoppage Professional Mixed Martial Arts.

Miarka B1, Dal Bello F2, Brito JC3, Del Vecchio FB2, Amtmann J3, Chamari K4.

Author information

1

1 Department of Fights, School of Physical Education and Sport, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2

2 Head of Physical Activity and Sports Science Master Program, Universidad Santo Tomás, Santiago, Chile.

3

3 Physical Education Department, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil.

4

4 Safety, Health and Industrial Hygiene Department, Montana Tech of the University of Montana, USA.

Abstract

PURPOSES::

This research sought to determine actions during bouts which generate serious enough injury to stop the bout, verifying the injury incidence, types, and prevalence of doctor stoppages (doc-stoppage), and identify potential risk factors by analyzing technical-tactical profiles for injury in sanctioned mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts taking place over a 12-year period.

METHODS::

The research analyzed 440 paired MMA matches separated by doc-stoppage (n=220) and no doc-stoppage (n=220) from 2002-2014. Technical-knockouts for doc-stoppage were diagnosed and managed by attending ringside doctors and the time-motion variables were categorized into total combat time separated by low- or high-intensity activity per round, stand-up or groundwork actions, p≤0.05.

RESULTS::

The main cause of injuries in doc-stoppage situations were due to facial injuries (>90%), with 87.1% occurring after striking actions during the second round. Lacerations were the leading type of injury, which occurred with 80% frequency. The results showed differences between doc-stoppage and no doc-stoppage for standing combat with low-intensity actions (130.6±8.5s vs. 83.3±6.9s for first round; 115.7±10.5s vs. 100.1±9.6s for second round and 121.5±19.5s vs. 106.3±11.7s for third round) and total strike attempts (34.5, 23.0-51.8 vs. 25.0, 12.0-40.8); in standing combat, head strike attempts (21, 10-33 vs. 11, 4-21) and body strikes (2.5, 1.0-5.8 vs. 1.0-2); and in groundwork combat, head strikes landed (0.0-3.0 vs. 0.0-5.0).

CONCLUSIONS::

Our research showed higher values of strike attempts with two main orientations, namely the head (on the ground and in stand-up actions) and body (in stand-up actions), and may provide important information regarding the technical knockout (TKO) and when it can be called by officials supervising MMA bouts.