MMA fighter dies in his debut

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A mixed martial arts fighter has died from brain injuries after his professional debut.

The Aiken County coroner said Monday that 30-year-old Michael Kirkham died from bleeding inside the brain. Coroner Tim Carlton said Kirkham collapsed following Saturday night's fight at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.

He added that Kirkham was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Center and never regained consciousness. Carlton said an autopsy will be done Tuesday.

Kirkham was from South Carolina and nicknamed "Tree" because he is six foot nine. He had fought six times as an amateur before turning pro.

South Carolina law had prevented organized MMA-style competition until last summer.

Jesus Christ.

ya its sad but thats why guys shouldnt turn pro when they aint ready, and the ref shoulda stopped it... i wonder if it was mazzagati... the worst ref in mma history

man he prolly had alot of talent R.I.P

that's really sad my heart goes out to him and his family...I'm sure everyone that's associated with the UFC feels really bad about what happened, and if it is due to a ref not stoppin the fight in time, I'm sure he'll be dealt with appropriately.

it wasnt in the ufc

my bad, thought it was, someone mentioned Mazzagatti, so I just thought it was the UFC since that's who Mazzaggatti works for, anyway it's still sad.

i mentioned him lol... and the refs dont work for the ufc they work for the athletic commison ref's ref everywhere guys from ufc ref in strikeforce and so on

That's beyond sad.

R.I.P

ah well maybe his death won't be in vain maybe MMA will be banned :)

^^ go watch your sick ass fagget cartoons, mma should not be banned. This is fluke just like every other death in sports.

yeah right a fluke under the eyes of a ref that makes a lotta sense

more boxers and pro wrestlers have died then mma fighters so using your logic there should be no boxing or wrestling either

the wrestlers have died doing stupid stunts or taking bumps. No wrestler has died in the ring in the US.

ur joking right... maybe u should check that first lmao
more football players,hockey players,baseball,soccer,rugby players die every year then people d in mma
so i guess those sports should be banned to?

those games........... the ref cannot control them all. In MMA, where there is just 2 people the referee can and has to control this. Plus, millions watch those games. the mere content, premise and basis of MMA is hurting people so yeah it should be toned down if not banned.

the premise isnt hurting people its winning same as any other sport... and ur ref thing makes little sense the fighter showed no signs of injuries and didnt take to bad of a beating in the fight he just got tagged in a bad spot... a complete fluke

the fact is that MMA is brutal and belongs to the Gladiator Era. Sure its winning but you have to beat the shit out of your opponent to do that. Ok maybe it was a fluke but if restrictions are not put in place then there's only gonna be more deaths

there r restrictions thats why deaths are so rare, these guys know how to defend themselves and mma is safer then boxing because u dont get a chance to recover when u get tagged in a fight and yr knocked down the ref stops it but in boxing u get time to recover just so u can get beaten again, i've also been training for a mma career for years and have never been hurt, and most fighters never do get seriously hurt, i agree mma from the 90's was very gladiatorish but these days with all the new rules and shit its a lot safer

R.i.p :(

ROFL this cartoon guy, no deaths in wreslting? hmm maybe you forgot about OWEN?

That's horrible, how could someone actually do that? The guy he was fighting should definitely be locked up for good, MMA fighting after this event is like legalized murder if not properly controlled. They need to get their act together.

^^^^ Finally someone here has been thinking

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aoessand

ROFL this cartoon guy, no deaths in wreslting? hmm maybe you forgot about OWEN?

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Did you read the stupid stunts bit? I guess not because your judgement is obviously clouded :rolleyes:

So the Oponent should be locked up because of what? Cause both of them agreed to fight each other? Cause they did it under the eye of an dunno what to call it a third person so to say who should have or did stepped in when the fighter was done? Sure its tragic but you can´t blame it on anyone in my eyes they both agreed to this its not ilegall to fight each other in an MMA Ring its just a rly sad accident ... and now every1 who always was against MMA will scream up again that this should never be allowed again in any Country, its just stupid in my eyes that now everyone who hates MMA speaks out b/c they where just waiting for such an "oppertunity" to have some prove that MMA is lethal or whatever you wanna call it..

If MMA was banned there'd be no sports interesting left to watch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Staynes

So the Oponent should be locked up because of what? Cause both of them agreed to fight each other? Cause they did it under the eye of an dunno what to call it a third person so to say who should have or did stepped in when the fighter was done? Sure its tragic but you can´t blame it on anyone in my eyes they both agreed to this its not ilegall to fight each other in an MMA Ring its just a rly sad accident ... and now every1 who always was against MMA will scream up again that this should never be allowed again in any Country, its just stupid in my eyes that now everyone who hates MMA speaks out b/c they where just waiting for such an "oppertunity" to have some prove that MMA is lethal or whatever you wanna call it..

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Thanks for speaking the truth. Its like in boxing if someone dies in the fight, its not anyone's fault. It is jsut a freak accident that is going to cause people to bitch and moan against the sport. Look at all the anti- MMA guys that are now growing balls and saying the sport should be banned. If one death should cause for an entire sport to be banned, why is WWE banned, Owen Hart died in the ring albeit it wasnt from any action, but its still a death, almost every major sport has had a death in it someway or another. American Football, basketball, there have been deaths in a lot of sports you grieve, and move on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Staynes

So the Oponent should be locked up because of what? Cause both of them agreed to fight each other? Cause they did it under the eye of an dunno what to call it a third person so to say who should have or did stepped in when the fighter was done? Sure its tragic but you can´t blame it on anyone in my eyes they both agreed to this its not ilegall to fight each other in an MMA Ring its just a rly sad accident ... and now every1 who always was against MMA will scream up again that this should never be allowed again in any Country, its just stupid in my eyes that now everyone who hates MMA speaks out b/c they where just waiting for such an "oppertunity" to have some prove that MMA is lethal or whatever you wanna call it..

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Thanks for speaking the truth. Its like in boxing if someone dies in the fight, its not anyone's fault. It is jsut a freak accident that is going to cause people to bitch and moan against the sport. Look at all the anti- MMA guys that are now growing balls and saying the sport should be banned. If one death should cause for an entire sport to be banned, why is WWE banned, Owen Hart died in the ring albeit it wasnt from any action, but its still a death, almost every major sport has had a death in it someway or another. American Football, basketball, there have been deaths in a lot of sports you grieve, and move on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ichigo Kurosaki

No wrestler has died in the ring in the US.

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Here's just a few examples of how wrong your statement is.

May 28, 2005: Daniel 'Spider' Quirk dies during a match against The Hi-Lite Kid at a Ultimate Championship Wrestling event in Taunton, Massachusetts after his opponent botches a pescada and drives Quirk's head into the arena floor.

November 29, 2003: Larry 'Moondog Spot' Latham dies due to a heart attack in the ring during Jerry Lawler's "birthday bash" show in Memphis, Tennessee.

January 7, 2000: Gary Albright dies due to a heart attack during a match against Lucifer Grimm at a World Xtreme Wrestling show in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

July 2, 1969: Mike DiBiase (adoptive father of 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase) dies of a heart attack during a match against Man Mountain Mike in Lubbock, Texas.



And that's just in the US. Do I even need to name some of the in-ring deaths that have occured in Mexico or Japan?