What is more dangerous? Boxing or Mixed Martial Arts? Well, it all depends on where and when! Are we talking about in a single boxing match or a lifetime of the sport?
This is like comparing, what is more dangerous, slamming your head into a table repeatedly, or getting into a car accident where you receive one massive blow to the head.
In a boxing match you get hit much more, and with a somewhat padded glove. But because the glove is padded, it takes many more strikes to the head to knock someone out, therefore, the brain will get exceedingly more "concussed" as the match carries on, also in boxing matches, the boxer must endure a great amount of strikes before any referee will decide to stop the bought.
In MMA, the 4-ounce fingerless gloves offer little in the way of protecting the brain from sustaining damage, and although the single strikes in boxing are much more often, the single strikes in MMA land with a much greater amount of force. Studies have shown that consistent blows to the brain are bad for long term brain health. But this is only to speak of the brain, what about the rest of the body?
So far in the discussion we have only spoken about the brain, however, in MMA, damage can be incurred through a multitude of ways. Submissions, knees, shins, elbows, et cetera. This makes broken bones FAR more likely.
Finally, I have only discussed the damage in a match, but what about a lifetime in the sport, just hanging out in gyms. Well, unfortunately, no one can answer this, as every MMA gym is different from one another, and every boxing gym is different from one another. Some gyms encourage hardcore sparring. Most gyms (even ones that train pro fighters), encourage light sparring, in essence, sparring that doesn't do a lot of damage to brain or body. I would focus on those gyms first, both sports are about longevity and experience, and you can't have experience if you're concussed all the time.
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