Joao Carvalho’s death came after he lost by a technical knockout in a fight that took place in Dublin. The 28 year old Portuguese fighter competed in the welterweight division and was facing opponent Charlie Ward at the National Boxing Stadium when he lost by a technical knockout in round three.
Carvalho later succumbed to his injuries and died Monday night, two days after the fight. MMA fans have been very vocal about the sport being safer than boxing and even football, but recent deaths of young men have proven otherwise. As per the Nobrega Team, all safety related standard procedures were followed after the fight and Carvalho was transported to Beaumont Hospital within 20 minutes of complaining that he was not feeling fine. Doctors did not waste any time in undertaking a brain surgery and Carvalho remained in a serious condition for 48 hours before he died.
This is the sixth recorded death in the MMA since 2007. Sam Vasquez and Michael Kirkham both died due to cerebral damage inflicted by their opponents in 2007 and 2010 respectively. Tyrone Mims passed away after his fight, but the medical cause of his death was not ascertainable. BootoGuylain, a fighter from Congo, also passed away after being beaten into a head injury.
The sport of Boxing accounts for 923 deaths in just over a century. MMA is relatively a very new sport, and so no statistical comparison can be drawn at this time. However, experts believe that MMA is heading down the same road or maybe one that is even worse if safety is not given an even higher priority.
MMA is a dangerous sport and proponents know this very well yet sugar coat this fact. The sport of Football is in the limelight for brain safety and measures will be taken to improve the same, it is high time MMA implements better brain safety standards. Do we really need to wait for more young fighters to die or be left paralyzed for life before we pull up our socks and deal with the evident safety related shortfalls in the sport?
Author : Rory McGregor
