I think Pride is the very extreme of MMA,in terms of the rules and there are even worse competitions. Referring to Silva vs quiton jackson ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LazyoSzuGWU even though he was kneed to the head repeatedly, he still had the opportunity to take his opponent to the ground ( a defensive tactic), and thus prevent the repeated kneeing, there is not an equivalent technique in boxing apart from the clinch or hug, but this imposes a point penalty,but this does not occur in UFC.
The problem i think with the "10 count " in boxing and perhaps in K1 is that the referee is allowing continual reintroduction into a situation where there is progressive head trauma. However in the UFC the refereeing has improved, if a player is unable to defend themselves the referee will intervene even before a KO. So i don't think it is a bad as the earlier UFC tournaments were, they have spent a great deal of time with the American Sports Council in order to improve safety etc.
As for the MMA gloves, there is less padding due to the necessity of grappling, however even in boxing the gloves do not dispel much of the force of the punch.