Light-heavyweight champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua (left) and challenger Jon (Bones) Jones pose at the UFC 128 weigh-in at the Prudential Center, as UFC president Dana White looks on from the middle, on Friday March 18, 2011, in Newark, N.J.Neil Davidson
While other leagues struggle with concussions, the UFC points proudly to its medical record.
"Here's the reality. This is the most regulated sport in the world," UFC president Dana White told the UFC 128 pre-fight news conference last week in New York.
The mixed martial arts juggernaut notes how referees jump in to prevent fighters in trouble from further damage, how doctors and ambulances are on hand fight night and the extensive pre- and post-fight tests its athletes are subjected to.
MMA combatants undergo annual tests to maintain their licence to fight. And athletic commissions impose post-fight medical suspensions, varying on the degree of damage taken.
"If they take any damage to the head, they're put on a three-month suspension," said White. "These guys are on a three-month medical suspension and cannot return until they're seen by a doctor.
"These guys don't take the damage that NFL players or boxers or guys from the NHL. And guys in the NFL and the NHL can't miss three months. If guys missed three months for a concussion, there'd be no football, there'd be no NHL. That's the difference and this sport is a million times safer than both of them."
But what happens when fighters don't do what they have been told?
English welterweight Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy unwittingly suggested that may be the case in a media conference call this week.
Hardy, who fought for the title last March, was knocked out by Carlos (Natural Born Killer) Condit at UFC 120 on Saturday, Oct. 16.
"The Monday morning I was back in the gym, sparring Tuesday," he said. "I was just eager to get back in there. I was annoyed that I'd let myself down, let my fans down."
Hardy said he felt no ill-effects of the knockout, other than a small bruise under his ear.
"I've not had any problems at all," he said, repeating "I was back in the gym sparring two days later."
Asked if he had any kind of medical suspension, Hardy replied: "I wasn't quite sure how that works. I wasn't sure they were telling me I can't actually fight or I can't do anything at all.
"But, you know, I like trading punches and somebody's going to tell me I can't do it for 30 days, I'm likely not going to listen to them."
Hardy returns to the cage Saturday in Seattle.
Because the fight was in England, where the British Boxing Board of Control does not oversee MMA, UFC doctors did post-fight follows.
A UFC official said Hardy had a negative CT scan after the fight and was suspended 30 days. He did not respond to a subsequent email on whether that involved contact.
Another UFC spokesman, after speaking to the fighter, clarified Hardy's comments by saying he wasn't taking punches when he referred to sparring on the call.
"He said he felt fine almost as soon as he left the Octagon (after Condit) but didn't take blows again until sparring in L.A. a month later," the spokesman said.
In Nevada, seen as a leader in the world of boxing and MMA because of its busy fight calendar, suspensions will often be split between training and sparring. A fighter is usually allowed to spar 10 to 14 days before the suspension ends.
"If a guy needs to not fight for 60 days, he really shouldn't be sparring for 45 days, to give the brain all the time to heal or any other kind of injuries he may have that would be exacerbated by sparring," said Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Kizer, whose organization oversees both boxing and MMA, says respecting a suspension is in the fighter's own good.
"This is for the fighter's benefit and if he doesn't do it, he puts himself at risk to shorten his career. A lot of guys, a lot of guys have shortened their careers because they were so tough they got into the ring two days after being stopped and started sparring again.
"And then their career is over by the time they hit 30 and they wonder why or they blame everyone but themselves."
Refusal to follow commission directives could lead to a fighter being denied a licence renewal.
Still, Kizer likes to think that these days fighters and their coaches pay heed to the medical suspensions.
"I hope so. I'm a guy who likes to give the benefit of the doubt when able to."
Ten of the 24 fighters in action at UFC 128 were given medical suspensions by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board.
The wide range of bans include 30 days for featherweight Raphael Assuncao for a knockout and an indefinite period of time pending a CT head scan for heavyweight Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic, who faces a minimum 30 days out for a facial cut.
Mauricio (Shogun) Rua, who lost his light-heavyweight title by lopsided TKO to Jon (Bones) Jones, was suspended indefinitely pending a CT head scan. He faces a minimum two months out because of the knockout.
White, who seems genuinely concerned about fighter safety, said the Brazilian would get a full slate of post-fight tests at hospital.
"Oh, hell yeah. I'm sending him to get everything done."
MMA fighters wear smaller gloves - four to eight ounces depending on the size of the fighter's hand - than boxing (which are eight or 10 ounces). MMA gloves have the fingers and thumb cut out so fighters can use them to grapple.
Kizer says Nevada post-fight injury reports suggest "it's very rare to have a concussion in MMA."
He attributes that to the lack of a mandatory eight count (which in boxing allows a fighter to recover and then perhaps take more damage). Also that when fighters are on the ground, they throw punches with less power than if they were standing.
"We see more injuries in MMA but they are less severe (than boxing)," said Kizer. "Mostly they're cuts, they're ligament damage of some sort.
"I don't want to downplay the danger involved in the sport. It is a dangerous sport. Any time you have someone throwing punches and kicks at your head as hard as they can, it's going to be a dangerous sport. But overall, compared to boxing and a lot of other sports .... you'll see a lot less concussions.
"But that doesn't mean that it's a totally safe sport nor does it mean the injury rate is very low, because you do have a lot of cuts and ligament issues."
Concussions can happen in MMA, however.
James (The Sandman) Irvin, for example, was knocked silly by an illegal knee to the head from Brazilian Luiz Cane at UFC 79 on Dec. 29, 2007.
"I forgot my phone number, I forgot my address. It was bad for a couple of days," the California fighter said in a May 2008 interview with The Canadian Press.
Irvin fought again April 2, 2008, when he was knocked out in eight seconds by Houston (The Assassin) Alexander.
Irvin, who has failed doping tests twice, is still fighting but is no longer in the UFC.