Posted on 06/29/2010 12:18:27 AM PDT by Route797
Officials said they expect an autopsy will confirm preliminary findings that a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who made his professional debut at the "Confrontation at the Convocation" Saturday at the USC Aiken Convocation Center was pronounced dead Monday from blows he received during the weekend bout.
Thirty-year-old Michael Kirkham of Gaffney was struck five or six times during the first round. The father of five children received several blows to the head, which caused the referee to stop the bout, said Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton.
(Excerpt) Read more at aikenstandard.com ...
Bmfl
Tragic. But MMA is still safer than boxing
You’ve got a point. I’m an older person who grew up with boxing. MMA is unfamiliar and alien to me.
This guy should never have been in the cage. He’s far too long and skinny. The physics are all wrong.
I would have been afraid to hit this man, believing I may kill him.
Tyson, for example, has no neck and a fat, puffy head—you could hit him all night.
The physics were working against this guy from the beginning.
Not to mention taht D’Juan hit him in the back of the head quite a few times, AND the ref did not stop him.
I blame his decision to enter the sport, the ref, and D’Juan for pounding on his brain stem.
Here’s the fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhKU0u3CzXY
I’ve never understood the draw of a person attempting to physically hurt another human. As a purpose unto itself.
If it were about scoring points in make believe combat, sufficient headgear and padding would be employed. And OK by me. Instead, it is about rendering another human senseless.
The purpose is to defeat him, to prevail. In this respect it's no different than any other contest.
The same as tennis or chess, right?
Sorry, not buying it.
End of MMA.... tick, tick, tick........
Have you ever been in an MMA match? Even starting from the knees and grappling?
I have, and I’ve watched many different matches of varying skill levels. It’s highly technical with a little bit of brute force.
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Absolutely. These are simply refined versions of the real thing. Mortal combat.
“highly technical”, mmmmmmm, ok.
gloves are not thick enough to prevent serious brain injury. Any of these guys that survive to 40 will make Ali look like a member of mensa.
Leg kicks scramble brains too.
I am quite surprised the states and/or feds have not stepped in with more stringent regulations.
I actually agree with you but from a different perspective as a martial artist. Other than for improving reaction time and technique, sparring is probably the biggest way for a martial artist to lose focus on the art and instead, focus on beating people up. And when we spar, we usually wear gloves, helmets and foot guards. I avoid going to tournaments and ring matches simply because they usually become pissing contests for hotheads and testosterone infused egomaniacs instead of a tool to increase a martial artist’s reaction time as well as stymies your willingness to use any and all techniques to your disposal if you were really attacked.
A personal anecdote: me and my girlfriend were attacked by this stupid thug and his girlfriend because we asked them to turn down their saggy pantsed rap “music” down on the bus. We disembarked off the bus and the couple followed us off the bus. As soon as the amazonian woman was about to cock her arm and attack my frail girlfriend, I did this technique known as an arch hand to thugette’s neck before the welfare mom could connect with my girlfriend’s head and shook her up. Then her boyfriend came up and punched me. I then countered him with a few hammer fists to the temple and he was stunned for a bit. They then tried to call the police on me. The police came and nearly arrested the thugs for attacking us.
If that was a tournament, I’d be DQed for using temple strikes and for striking the throat. Instead, I got a police escort back to the hospital and a thumbs up from the local PD. MMA, much like every other sport martial art, doesn’t prepare you for a real fight. And since MMA doesn’t have the Bushido culture you find in traditional martial arts, you have insensitive thugs like D’Juan forgetting that he’s playing a game and he should keep the brain stem strikes for the streets.
Ive seen many mma fights, and alot of things are unnecessary and happen because of a bad or slow acting ref. Where people who are clearly unconscious get pounded on the face while the unconscious guy is on the floor.
RIP.
gloves don’t protect brains, they protect hands. There were fewer brain injuries when fighters fought bare knuckles because you couldn’t hit that hard without breaking your hand. You don’t see the grotesque flattened noses, facial gashes, etc nowadays, but there are more catastrophic brain injuries.
Google Randy Couture and start educating yourself
This thread is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
I’ve never understood why anyone other than a high school boy would want to watch that crap.
He was 6’9” and 155 pounds. He should have exercised his own responsibility to his wife and children and stayed out of the match.
Me either, and I’ve been in plenty real fights. Fake ones creep me out.
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