I know I am handing @afghanmoose a ton of free research, but I hate that people speak so negatively of MMA and tout unsubstantiated opinions as fact.
@ETpro As a mixed martial artist I can tell your assessment of MMA being more dangerous than boxing is commonplace, but very wrong. Compared to Football and Boxing MMA is safer. What a lot of people don’t understand is that gloves (boxing, MMA, etc) sole purpose is to protect your hands, not your head.
In boxing the fighters score points over the course of 10–12 rounds by punching each other, sometimes to the body, but mostly to the head. In MMA fighters wrestle, box, clinch, etc to score points and do it over the course of a mere 3 rounds (5 for championship fights). At the and of the day a boxer gets hit in the head many times more than a MMA fighter. Even linemen take worse punishment to their heads.
Another thing to take into account is the ring or cage when referring to MMA. Because the image of two men stepping into a cage to fight is so extreme most people tend to look past any reason other than shock value for its existence. The truth is that a cage during a clinch actually provides added support to the fighters neck and head, reducing neck injury. Essentially the cage provides a service similar to that of a head rest in a car accident, rings however do not offer any support.
Football Deaths Per Year: 10 to 20
Boxing Deaths Per Year: 10
MMA Deaths in the Past 20 Years: 1
Study from Johns Hopkins – http://augustafreepress.com/2007/10/05/is-mma-safer-than-boxing/
Vancouver Sun – http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/groundandpound/pages/mma-vs-boxing-which-is-more-dangerous.aspx
MMA Writers – http://www.mmawriters.com/Article/MMA-Is-Safer-Than-Boxing/33
Unified MMA Rules – http://www.state.nj.us/lps/sacb/docs/martial.html