When Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor step into the ring Saturday night, there will be much more than pride and money on the line. Brain health is at risk in combat sports, whether it’s Mayweather’s boxing or McGregor’s mixed martial arts.
Although there is not enough evidence to say one sport is definitively more dangerous to the brain, data being collected for the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study (PFBHS) by the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas suggest boxing is worse.
The sport of MMA allows several ways to strike your opponent, including kicking, punching and elbowing.