AUTHOR=Miarka Bianca , Soto Dany A. Sobarzo , Aedo-Muñoz Esteban A. , Maurício Clóvis A. , Müller Vanessa T. , Bragazzi Nicola L. , Brito Ciro José TITLE=Concussion vs. resignation by submission: Technical–tactical behavior analysis considering injury in mixed martial arts JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.941829 DOI=10.3389/fneur.2022.941829 ISSN=1664-2295 ABSTRACT=

This research study verified the technical–tactical actions during the mixed martial arts (MMA) fights to generate serious enough injury to stop the MMA round, determining technical-tactical potential risk factors for injury in official MMA combats, according to Concussion or Resignation per Submission. A total of 990 rounds with concussions and 627 resignations per submission were considered with severe injury (i.e., a fight ended by a doctor or referee). All injuries were diagnosed and managed by attending ringside physicians during the MMA fights and rounds and had a continuous technical–tactical behavior analysis, p ≤ 0.05. The leading cause of concussion was due to head trauma (~90%), with higher dependence on head strikes scored actions. Comparisons between Concussion and Resignation per Submission combats demonstrated differences between distance head strikes actions [13(6,25) vs. 9(4,18) frequencies], clinch head strikes actions [1(0;4) vs. 1(0;3) frequencies], ground head strikes actions [1(0;8) vs. 2(0;10) frequencies] and takedowns actions [0(0;1) vs. 1(0;2) frequencies]. This information may provide significant evidence regarding the doctor stoppage in concussion combats and when it could be called by officials supervising MMA.