As of 2023, there have been twenty recorded deaths resulting from sanctioned mixed martial arts contests and nine from unregulated bouts, none however in the largest MMA promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship.
[2] After losing consciousness and experiencing what appeared to be a seizure, he was taken to Saint Joseph Medical Center Critical Care Unit.
[3] Vasquez was the first fighter to die from injuries sustained in sanctioned mixed martial arts competition in North America.
[9] Kirkham had been TKO'd in his final amateur bout on April 24, 2010, leading Dr. Joe Estwanik, the former medical advisor to the North Carolina Boxing Authority to speculate: "This could have been second-impact syndrome.
30-year-old Tyrone Mims was competing in an amateur mixed martial arts show on August 11, 2012, at Conflict MMA Fight Night at the Point IV in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
EMS attempted to revive him at the scene and transported him to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m.[10] The Charleston County Coroner performed a "gross autopsy", which looks at visible injuries, and failed to reach a cause of death.
[11][12][13] The final autopsy results were also inconclusive, no evidence of a concussion or brain trauma were detected, and the toxicology report did not reveal the presence of drugs or alcohol.
Coroner Rae Wooten speculated that Mims "might have had an irregular heart because of some electrical dysfunction" stating: "That obviously isn't seen after death.
[16][17] He arrived at Saints Mary and Elizabeth Hospital with no pulse and was pronounced dead at 9:02 p.m.[18] The cause of his death was ruled as hypertensive heart disease.
Clark reportedly had difficulty breathing and following a post-fight medical examination was carried out on a stretcher[21] and transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital- Plymouth.
The autopsy officially concluded he died from extreme rhabdomyolysis, which is the rapid breakdown of muscle tissue caused by physical overexertion combined with dehydration.
He faced Obed Pereira on March 30, 2019, in a bantamweight bout at Remulus Fight which was sanctioned by the Amazonas Athletic Commission (CAMMA).
[29] 25-year-old Christian Lubenga lost his amateur MMA debut by a Round 3 TKO at AMMO Fight League 10 in West Springfield, Massachusetts on March 12th, 2022.
His death was due to blunt force trauma to the head according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
Dedge was then taken to the Kyiv Institute of Surgery where he died two days later on March 18 of what the chief emergency room doctor termed "severe brain injuries".
The autopsy listed the cause of death as subdural hemorrhage resulting from blunt force trauma to the head, that was related to an injury suffered approximately a week prior.
Elochukwu appeared to be fine during the announcement of the final decision and walked away on his own accord but on the way to the dressing room, he stopped and sat down citing exhaustion.
Those around Elochukwu noticed something was wrong and offered him some orange juice, believing his blood sugar may have dropped significantly (he was said to be hypoglycaemic).
"[39] Michigan was among about a dozen U.S. states in which amateur mixed martial arts bouts are legal, but unregulated.
[42] The death of Elochukwu prompted the Michigan legislator to quickly regulate amateur mixed martial arts.
A takedown by the rival KO'd Zeynalov caused his head to hit the canvas with medical personnel unable to revive him.
[45] 47-year-old Trinidad-born Jameston Lee-Yaw died in April 2015 while competing in an amateur MMA bout at the SouthShore Mall in Aberdeen, Washington.
Lee-Yaw was initially taken to Grays Harbor Community Hospital and then transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, where he died.