Has anyone died in the UFC, this is a very common question that goes through the minds of many MMA fans, and rightfully enough mixed martial arts is undoubtedly the most brutal sport on this planet, combat sports athletes are more prone to fatal injuries than any other sports practitioner, the reason behind this is the pretty liberal rule and a high level of tolerance to violence, which sometimes leads to deaths in MMA.
One of the most recent examples of such a gruesome injury was Chris Weidman’s leg snap. This is the reason why MMA is illegal or restricted in many countries around the world, but the rules of MMA in the sport’s largest market, the USA, have been unified since 2001 and although they slightly differ from country-to-country MMA has very specific rules in place to avoid potentially dangerous injuries or in severe case deaths which leads the fans to think that has anyone died in the UFC?
However, they are some incidents in which fighters have sustained life-threatening injuries, or in the worst case have died, so the question remains, has anyone died in the UFC? and the answer is no, but there are 7 recorded deaths in sanctioned fights outside of UFC.
List of MMA fighters who died inside the octagon
The unfortunate fighters who lost their lives during or because of an MMA match are:
1. Sam Vasquez
Sam Vasquez was a 35-year-old fighter who participated in a Renegades Extreme Fighting event in Houston Texas, Vasquez was knocked out by his opponent and after the fight, he lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital.
He died after a couple of operations and the reason for his death was declared due to the blunt trauma to the head sustained during the fight.
2. Michael Kirkham
Kirkham entered an MMA competition in Aiken, South California where he was making his professional debut, but unfortunately for him his opponent threw him on the canvas seconds into the fight, where he several brutal shots to his head, the fight was stopped but Kirkham soon lost consciousness and never recovered.
Doctors declared him dead on June 28, 2010, and declared that the impact of those strikes caused subarachnoid hemorrhage which resulted in his death.
3. Tyrone Mims
Tyrone Mills was 30 years old when he competed in South Caroline, the reason for his death remains a mystery up until now, he complained about being extremely tired during the second round, and the referee stopped the fight, later on his way to the locker room he lost consciousness and never recovered.
There were no signs of any injuries whatsoever, doctors suggested that a heart problem was the reason but it was never proven.
4. Booto Guylain
Booto Guylain competed in an MMA event in South Africa where he sustained a heavy head injury during the third round in a match against Keron Davies, his condition was stable on-site but he passed away a week later.
5. Donshay White
Veteran Donshay White was 37 when he lost an amateur heavyweight bout against Ricky Muse in Kentucky, he was TKO’d in the second round, and shortly after the fight he collapsed behind the stage and was taken to the hospital.
Unfortunately, he didn’t survive, it was later disclosed that he skipped his hypertension medication that day, and he died because of hypertensive heart disease.
6. Rondel Clark
Rondel Clark was only 26-year-old when he lost his life, he entered an event in Plymouth, MA where he faced Ryan Dunn, he was TKO’d in round number three, was visibly fatigued, and was sent to the hospital.
He died soon after and it was declared that his kidneys failed as he was severely dehydrated.
7. Mateus Fernandes
Mateus Fernandes was only 22-year-old when he died, he competed in an MMA event in Manaus on March 30.
He started off really well winning the first two rounds, but in the third round he got hit with a combination and went down, he started to seize and died in the hospital, it was declared that he suffered four heart attacks before dying, and there was a rumor that Fernandes was on drugs during the fight, and that caused his demise.
This was a very unfortunate topic to cover, but it was very important to answer the question, “Has anyone died in the MMA” the fact that no such incident had happened inside the UFC shows that with proper rules and inside a safe environment an organization can carry out MMA fights without hurting their fighters.
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