Working the cuts: what happens to a cut between rounds, and when a doctor steps in

Few things change a fight faster than a cut. One elbow or clash of heads and a fighter who was cruising is suddenly fighting with blood in their eye and a doctor looking closely at them between rounds. Reviews of MMA injuries consistently put lacerations near the top of the list, alongside head injuries.

Our film follows the work that happens in the corner. Here is the context behind it.

The sixty seconds that matter

Between rounds the corner has roughly a minute. For a cut, the priorities are simple and always in the same order:

• Stop the bleeding. Firm, direct pressure is the foundation of everything.
• Keep blood out of the eye. A fighter who cannot see cannot defend themselves, and that is a stoppage.
• Reduce the swelling around the area with cold, so the cut is less likely to open further and the eye stays open.
• Protect the cut for the next round, using only what the rules of that event allow.

Experienced cutmen use cold, pressure and approved treatments, and they know exactly what the commission or governing body permits. Anything outside those rules can get a fighter disqualified and, more importantly, can make the wound worse.

Why the eye changes everything

The most common place to be cut in combat sports is around the eye: the eyebrow takes the impact and the skin over the bone splits easily. A cut there is not just a bleeding problem. Blood running into the eye blurs vision, swelling can close it, and a cut through the eyelid itself can damage the structures that protect the eye. That is why doctors look at the position of a cut as much as its size.

When a doctor stops a fight for a cut

The corner works the cut; the doctor decides whether the fight can safely go on. We will advise a stop when bleeding cannot be controlled between rounds, when a cut or swelling is affecting the fighter’s vision, or when the wound involves the eyelid or looks likely to cause lasting damage if the fight continues.

After the fight

Every cut is examined properly after the bout. Some need closing that night, some need hospital assessment and some just need cleaning and time. A cut can carry its own suspension: under the EMMAA protocol the doctor sets the period for an injury, with a minimum of seven days for every competitor, and a fighter will not compete again until the wound has healed and been checked.