MMA fighter dies in Pro debut

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2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#1
May 13, 2002
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#1
RIP

Michael Kirkham died early Monday following his professional MMA debut this past Saturday on a pro and amateur card in Aiken, S.C.

Kirkham, a lightweight nicknamed "Tree" for towering at 6-feet-9, was 30.

Kirkham competed on a Dash Entertainment and King MMA co-promoted "Confrontation at the Convocation Center" event at the USC Aiken Convocation Center, a card regulated by the South Carolina Athletic Commission.

"Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with his family, other than that I have no comment," Sam King, a promoter of Saturday's card, told MMAFighting.com.

According to WRDW in Augusta, Kirkham was transported to Aiken Regional Medical Center from the venue following the fight and was pronounced dead of a brain hemorrhage Monday morning.

Kirkham, who according to his own Facebook page, held an amateur record of 3-3, lost his pro debut by referee stoppage Saturday when he was knocked unconscious by ground and pound strikes.

Kirkham was the captain of his own MMA team and according to his "Fayetteville Independents" teammate John Yox's Facebook page, had "severe bleeding in the brain" and had been kept alive with the help of a machine. A message left on Yox's voicemail was unreturned.

The South Carolina Athletic Commission requires that all boxers and MMA fighters submit an original or certified lab report indicating that the competitor is HIV, Hepatitis B and C negative. Also, the fighter must complete an ophthalmologic (eye) exam as well as a physical by a doctor.

Kirkham becomes the second fighter to pass away due to causes from a regulated MMA fight in the US. The first known death in a regulated event was Sam Vasquez, who died on Nov. 30, 2007 from head injuries on a local card in Houston, Texas. Vazquez was in a coma for 42 days after the fight in October.

Below is an amateur bout between Kirkham against D'Juan Owens from April 24.

 
T-Spoon

T-Spoon

Sicc OG
#6
Apr 26, 2002
3,897
638
113
#6
rip. sooooo, do you guys think this could ever happen in the higher caliber leagues, like ufc, strikeforce, wec, etc? or do you think that it was due to "amateurish" refereeing? i think it would be devastating to the ufc if it DID happen. ppl already think mma is too barbaric. not understanding it's an art. fold
 
2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#7
May 13, 2002
49,944
47,801
113
44
Seattle
www.socialistworld.net
#7
I'm still wondering how you can be 6'9 and a LIGHTWEIGHT. Not sure what LW was in this particular case but for UFC & Strikeforce I think that's 146-155. That seems waaaaaay to skinny for a guy 6'9. Not sure if that means anything, just sayin.

Deaths in MMA and boxing can happen at any time, but the chances of it happening at a high level are pretty remote, imo.

In boxing for example, it's pretty rare you see a top quality guy die in the ring. Typically, not always, deaths happen with some lower level type guys who maybe shouldn't be in the ring with the opponent their facing. Of course there have been some high level guys brain damaged and or killed (gerald mcclellan, Duk KOO KIM for example).

Also I think the biggest factor is guys who dehydrate a significant amount of weight in order to make weight. When your body is dehydrated your brain is too, which is when the brain is most vulnerable for damage.

Further there could be some more adequate testing, like required CAT scans, MRI's and whatnot.

But it's bound to happen in MMA at some point. It's a brutal sport and these things cannot be entirely prevent. I remember some years ago lots of people were saying no one has ever died in MMA and its a safer sport then boxing, well it's a young sport and unfortunately the longer it goes the more deaths we'll see.

In boxing for example there had never been a death televised until 1962 when Emile Griffith brutally killed Benny Paret live on TV. Boxing took a big hit as a result and wasn't regularly shown again on TV until the 1970's.

MMA would definitely take a negative hit if a high caliber death did occur, but it would be a knee-jerk reaction, just like boxing took after the deaths of Parot and Duk KOO KIM. Eventually it would recover and maybe new rules would be implemented as a result (just like in boxing (for example after Kim died so did 15 rounds and now we have 12 round fights, fights are stopped earlier now days the rule of thumb being if a guy takes 10 unanswered punches in a row without fighting back or really defending themselves the ref has the right to stop the fight)). Sometimes the fans hate these "early stoppages" but one has to remember these rules are in place to protect the fighters because of the deaths/injuries sustained in the past. Similar actions I would imagine would occur in MMA
 
A

Artistic

Sicc OG
#10
Dec 29, 2008
3,024
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0
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#10
rip that sucks. when they get someone on them striking with the ground and pund thats when they get hella fucked up a lot of times. this fight should have been stopped sooner. it's the amateur mma fights that tend to be more brutal due to lack of preperation. my brother is a mma fighter and i worry about him.
 
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