Research priorities

A stoppage is the last safety measure inside the bout. It is made in seconds, under noise and pressure, by people who hold different roles and see the fighter from different places.

Commission rules decide who holds that authority. FMRI wants the evidence behind those rules, and behind the call itself, to be strong enough that a fighter can trust both.

Questions FMRI proposes to ask

• What signs do referees, physicians and corners act on when a bout is stopped, and how consistently are those signs applied?
• Does the way stoppage authority is assigned change what happens to the fighter?
• What information reaches the person who has to decide, and how fast does it get there?
• What do fighters report about their own stoppages, and how does that compare with what officials recorded?

In the research library

The library holds one record on this priority.

• Ringside physician stoppage authority in United States combat sports commissions Sears, 2026. Critical review. Peer reviewed, as stated by the publisher.

When a fighter is badly hurt, the outcome depends on what was arranged before the first bell. A plan nobody has rehearsed is not a plan.

FMRI wants emergency protocols for combat sports to rest on evidence from real events: what was in place, what happened, and how long each step took.

Questions FMRI proposes to ask

• What emergency plans, equipment and personnel are in place at events of different sizes and under different rule sets?
• How long does each step take, from the fighter going down to handover at a hospital, and where is time lost?
• Do the people at ringside train and rehearse together before the event?
• What do fighters and their corners know about the emergency plan before they compete?

In the research library

The library does not yet hold a verified record on this priority.

A head injury is not always visible when the bout ends. FMRI’s aim is an examination that is done the same way after every bout and recorded, so the fighter, the next clinician and the commission all work from the same facts.

A screening tool has to earn that role. It must be tested in fighters, by the people who will use it, in the places where bouts are held.

Questions FMRI proposes to ask

• Which examination items can be done reliably at ringside in the few minutes after a bout?
• How well does a post-bout screen identify the fighters who are later diagnosed with a concussion?
• Do different examiners reach the same result on the same fighter?
• What should happen to the fighter after an abnormal screen, and after a normal one?

In the research library

The library holds one record on this priority. The instrument it describes has not been validated.

• Standardized post-bout ringside concussion screening in combat sports Sears, 2026. Systematic evidence review with instrument development. Preprint, not peer reviewed.

Fighters take head impacts in training and in competition for years. In the library records listed here, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was identified by examining brain tissue after death.

That leaves working fighters with a hard gap between what they are exposed to and what anyone can tell them about their own brain. FMRI wants research that narrows the gap and is reported to fighters in terms they can use.

Questions FMRI proposes to ask

• Which measures taken during a career, such as imaging, cognitive testing and blood markers, track with later brain health?
• How do sparring load, number of bouts, weight class and weight cutting relate to changes in the brain?
• What do fighters want to know about their own results, and how should findings be returned to them?
• What do retired fighters and their families need when problems appear?

In the research library

The library holds three records on this priority.

• The aftermath of boxing revisited Goldfinger et al., 2018. Archival neuropathology study, published as correspondence. Published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Weight class, brain volume and cognition in professional fighters Bray et al., 2021. Analysis of a longitudinal cohort of professional fighters. Published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• CTE: features and forensic considerations Byard et al., 2023. Commentary and pathology reference. Published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Fighting asks a person to accept pain, risk, public loss and long stretches alone with the work. Asking for help can feel like giving an opponent an opening.

FMRI treats mental health, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a safety question on the same footing as a cut or a concussion. The research has to use tools that have been tested in fighters.

Questions FMRI proposes to ask

• How common are depressive symptoms, anxiety and post-traumatic stress among active and retired fighters, measured with tools tested in fighters?
• What in a fighter’s career raises or lowers the risk: injury, losses, weight cutting, money, isolation, retirement?
• What keeps fighters from asking for help, and what kind of help do they accept?
• Which protective factors can be trained or supported?

In the research library

The library holds two records that measure depressive symptoms in fighters. It does not yet hold a verified record on PTSD in fighters.

• Self-efficacy and depression in boxers Chen et al., 2020. Cross-sectional questionnaire study. Published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Weight class, brain volume and cognition in professional fighters Bray et al., 2021. Analysis of a longitudinal cohort of professional fighters. Published in a peer-reviewed journal.

A career ends, sometimes without warning. Income, routine, identity and the people around a fighter can change at once.

FMRI wants to know what is and is not established about suicide risk in current and former fighters, and which supports reach them. This research carries its own risks, so the safety rules come first.

Questions FMRI proposes to ask

• What is known about suicide risk in current and former fighters, and what is missing from the record?
• What changes at retirement: identity, income, health, daily structure and contact with the sport?
• Which supports reach fighters after their careers, and which do not?
• How can research on suicide risk be carried out safely for the fighters who take part?

In the research library

The library does not yet hold a verified record on this priority.

Safety comes first

Before any FMRI study collects information about suicide risk, the participant protection policy requires a qualified clinical response, written escalation criteria, named monitoring responsibilities, response timeframes, stated limits of confidentiality and referral arrangements. This website does not collect that information.