Emergency care and return to competition

Published guidance on imaging after a bout and on returning to competition after a concussion, hospital transfers recorded at events, and a review of who holds the authority to stop a bout.

Research information, not medical advice. This page does not diagnose, screen or clear anyone to compete.

The library holds no study that measures emergency response times or outcomes at combat sports events. The sources on this page are two consensus statements, one surveillance study that recorded hospital transfers, one scoping review that covers medical stops among other rule changes, and one critical review of stoppage authority.

Fight Medicine Research Institute is not an emergency service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number.

What the sources report

  1. Neuroimaging in professional combat sports: ARP consensus statement

    Sethi et al., 2023. The Physician and Sportsmedicine.

    Article type
    Professional-society consensus statement
    Studied
    Professional combat-sport neuroimaging; no new participant cohort.
    Status
    Published in a peer-reviewed journal
    • The statement sets out neuroimaging guidance for professional boxing, kickboxing and MMA.
    • It addresses imaging before licensure, to identify higher-risk fighters, and imaging immediately after a bout.
    • It notes that imaging requirements vary between jurisdictions and that no consensus guideline existed before it.

    Full recordDOI 10.1080/00913847.2022.2083922

  2. Concussion management in combat sports: ARP consensus statement

    Neidecker et al., 2019. British Journal of Sports Medicine.

    Article type
    Professional-society consensus statement
    Studied
    Combat-sport concussion management; no new participant cohort.
    Status
    Published in a peer-reviewed journal
    • The statement gives guidance for ringside physicians and others on managing a fighter with a concussion and on return to competition after a concussion.
    • It states that concussion management in combat sports should be more stringent than in non-combat sports.
    • It does not cover moderate or severe brain injury, such as intracranial bleeds, or neuroimaging.

    Full recordDOI 10.1136/bjsports-2017-098799

  3. Epidemiology of professional bare-knuckle fighting injuries

    Muzzi et al., 2022. The Physician and Sportsmedicine.

    Article type
    Observational injury surveillance
    Studied
    141 sanctioned bare-knuckle bouts; 282 fighter exposures.
    Status
    Published in a peer-reviewed journal

    Fighters were transferred to hospital on 5 occasions across 141 bouts: 2 for orbital fractures and 3 for traumatic brain injuries.

    • 141 state-sanctioned professional bare-knuckle bouts held from June 2018 to November 2020 were observed. Of 282 fighters, 105 (36.6%) sustained at least one injury.
    • Lacerations were the most common injury: 98 were recorded, 80 of them facial. 17 fractures were recorded, including 8 hand fractures.

    Full recordDOI 10.1080/00913847.2021.1955604

  4. Protective measures and rules for reducing injuries in combat sports

    Štyriak et al., 2023. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology.

    Article type
    Scoping review
    Studied
    Seven studies meeting inclusion criteria.
    Status
    Published in a peer-reviewed journal
    • Seven studies from boxing, karate and taekwondo, published between 2010 and 2023, met the inclusion criteria.
    • In boxing, the included studies reported fewer knockouts and head injuries with mandatory head guards and thicker gloves, and more facial cuts after head guards stopped being mandatory.
    • Rule changes such as shorter bouts, the standing count and medical stops were reported to reduce injuries in boxing.

    Full recordDOI 10.3390/jfmk8040150

  5. Ringside physician stoppage authority in United States combat sports commissions

    Sears, 2026. Combat Sports Regulation and Science, Report No. CSX-001.

    Article type
    Critical review
    Studied
    United States combat sports commissions and the rules that govern who may stop a bout. Not a study of individual fighters.
    Status
    Peer reviewed, as stated by the publisher

    Related-party work. The author founded Fight Medicine Research Institute. The full disclosure is on the record.

    • The work reviews a 2025 article by Neidecker, John, and Wheelock on how many U.S. commissions give the ringside physician authority to stop a fight.
    • It checks that article’s classifications against primary legal sources. The review reports that the article’s principal finding did not hold up against those sources.
    • It also questions the assumption that giving physicians independent authority to stop a bout makes fighters safer.

    Full recordDOI 10.67999/csx.001

Limits of this evidence

  • Consensus statements record expert agreement. They are not studies of outcomes.
  • Hospital transfers were counted in one study of one sport over two years.
  • The stoppage-authority review is a related-party work. Its disclosure is on the record page.

Fight Medicine Research Institute checked each source’s details against PubMed, Crossref, Europe PMC or the publisher. It has not carried out a formal critical appraisal of each paper.