Rogan: Gloves, headgear can increase risk
Joe Rogan: “It’s actually better to have no pads. No pads you’ll take less brain impact that with pads. [Headgear} doesn’t help either.”
The road to CTE hell in boxing was paved with good intentions – the majority of safety measures in boxing served only to add to the head trauma. A bare fist cannot hit very hard without breaking; add gauze, tape, and a glove, and it can. A round used to end when there was a knockdown, so fighters would take a knee and get a minutes rest as necessary; 3 minute rounds meant they had to fight on. The standing 8 count just means fights that should be stopped go on.
The drop from 15 championship rounds to 12 was humane, but much of the rest of the historical safety measures were counter productive. MMA personality Joe Rogan recently made a similar argument for mixed martial arts.
Some dumbass from TMZ caught up with Rogan at LAX and asked if increased pads will be required in MMA following the death of Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho dies in Dublin.
“It’s actually better to have no pads,” explain Rogan. “No pads you’ll take less brain impact that with pads. [Headgear} doesn’t help either. Headgear allows the head to move more. There’s actually an argument that wearing headgear while you’re sparring is actually worse, because there’s more of a fulcrum point. Your head can twist…”
Rogan also declined to discuss Carvalho’s death, noting that he did not know the specifics, and adding that it was of course a tragedy.