It is a sad week for the MMA community as it mourns the loss of one of its own. 30-year-old Michael Kirkham died on Monday June 28, following his mixed martial arts pro debut two days earlier in Aiken County, South Carolina.
Kirkham's death has resulted in national coverage, including this editorial from the Aiken Standard newspaper hauls out the tired old references to cockfighting and offers the ill-informed opinion that MMA is "little more than bar fights in the enclosure of a cage." While Kirkham's death is certainly a tragedy, such commentary condemning the entire sport overlooks a number of key facts.
First and foremost, regardless of what one thinks about mixed martial arts, any comparisons to cockfighting or dogfighting are completely off base as those activities do not involve willing participants. Kirkham was in his first pro fight, but he did know what he was getting into as he had participated in six previous amateur bouts.
Additionally, although Kirkham lost consciousness following the fight, autopsy results are not yet available. While the fight triggered the death, it is unclear whether Kirkham had any underlying medical conditions that made fighting unsafe.
Further, even if participation in MMA was the sole cause of death in this instance, many sports have some risks of serious physical injury. As explained in this article by Kevin Iole, in the 15 years since the UFC debuted in the United States, there have been 63 deaths in high school football alone. In the U.S. in that same time period there have been only two mixed martial arts related deaths: Kirkham and Sam Vasquez, who died in 2007.
Most states where MMA is legal have important regulations in place to promote fighter safety. Sadly, the precautions imposed by the South Carolina Athletic Commission did not prevent tragedy in this instance, but pre-fight medical testing is surely beneficial. In fact, one mixed martial artist credits pre-fight testing with possibly saving his life by detecting a condition that could have been life threatening even outside the cage.
Setting aside the debate as to whether the risks of MMA are acceptable, there is no question that the risks are very real. Fighters should make sure they have the proper legal documents in place to address what happens if they are seriously injured in a bout. Promoters should make sure that their contracts adequately explain the risks of the sport to reduce the promoter's own risks of liability and, more importantly, to make sure that fighters are making informed decisions about their participation.
