Mixed martial arts (MMA) in the United States was sanctioned under Unified Rules in the states of New Jersey and Nevada in 2001. By 2011, 45 US states had sanctioned the sport.
As of March 2011, there have been two recorded deaths resulting from sanctioned contests, the death of Sam Vasquez in Texas on 30 November 2007, and that of Michael Kirkham in South Carolina on June 28, 2010. Both fighters died of cerebral hemorrhage.
Because of the young age of the sport and the small number of fatalities to date, little statistical inference can be drawn. A 2006 study suggests that the risk of injury in general in MMA is comparable to that in professional boxing.[1] For professional boxing matches, the Manuel Velazquez Boxing Fatality Collection lists 923 deaths during the 118 year period of 1890-2007. However unlike the Manuel Velazquez Boxing Fatality Collection the MMA statistic does not include fatalities outside the United States.
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On 20 October 2007, Sam Vasquez (b. 1972) competed in a Renegades Extreme Fighting bout in Houston, losing the fight in the third round by way of technical knockout. Vasquez lost consciousness shortly thereafter and was taken to Saint Joseph Medical Center's Critical Care Unit. He was diagnosed with a subdural hemorrhage for which a section of the skull bone was removed to allow the brain to swell without compressing it. Additional swelling led to the placement of a tube that allows the CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) to be drained out of the cavities in the brain to make room for more swelling as well as to allow the monitoring of pressure in the brain. He slipped into a coma for 48 hours until he died on 30 November.
Vasquez's death was officially ruled as a death due to complications of blunt trauma of the head with a subdural hemorrhage.[2] Vasquez is the first fighter to die from injuries sustained in sanctioned mixed martial arts competition in North America. He was married and had a 7-year-old son at the time of his death.[3]
30-year old Michael Kirkham was knocked out and never regained consciousness at Dash Entertainment/King MMA “Confrontation at the Convocation Center” in Aiken, South Carolina on June 28, 2010. He was pronounced dead two days after the fight.[4] Kirkham was contesting his first professional MMA match.