It's also my (unproven) theory that combat sports are a lot safer than other intense sports.
For one, your partner tries to hit you but you are trained to defend yourself so most of the time you block/avoid the hits or at least do something to attenuate them.
Two, you wear protection in some of these sports.
And three, the philosophy of martial arts at least emphasises self control and you'll try to not hit as hard when your partner fails to block.
Competitions are another thing maybe, but who needs competitions...
The thing about many combat sports is not the short term injuries, but the long term CTE risk. Especially with the rise of meteoric rise of MMA, I think the community is going to have to take a hard look at blows to the head and choke-outs once there's been a few decades of data.
For one, your partner tries to hit you but you are trained to defend yourself so most of the time you block/avoid the hits or at least do something to attenuate them.
Two, you wear protection in some of these sports.
And three, the philosophy of martial arts at least emphasises self control and you'll try to not hit as hard when your partner fails to block.
Competitions are another thing maybe, but who needs competitions...