News UPDATE: Justin Thornton who was brutally KO'd at BKFC 20 last August has passed away

[SherdogWasNeverMyFriend]

Damn. RIP Justin...

 

[pamirec]

Rip, this is sad news. Never been a fan of BK fights. Makes me appreciate the unified rules even more. No soccer kicks, headbutts etc.

 

[xHeadx]

Damn. RIP man.

 

[Kryptt]

Ah - Shame to hear.

RIP man and thanks for the scraps!

 

[estranged]

Already posted. Mods please merge.
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...has-passed-away.4201570/page-9#post-166258562



Justin Thornton, whose MMA career included 24 pro fights, has died after injuries sustained in a knockout loss at BKFC 20 in August.
BKFC president Dave Feldman confirmed Thornton’s death to MMA Junkie on Monday following an initial report from My MMA News.
“This morning we were very saddened to be notified of the passing of one of our fighters, Justin Thornton, who competed at BKFC-20 on August 20, 2021,” Feldman told MMA Junkie in a prepared statement. “We join the rest of the combat sports community in sending our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
The 38-year-old Thornton took the bareknuckle fight with Cleckler on a five-fight skid in MMA – all first-round stoppages, including two knockout losses. He hadn’t won an MMA fight since October 2016. His most recent MMA loss came in less than a minute to MMA promoter Lex McMahon, who was fighting as a pro for the first time.
Thornton’s career MMA record was 8-16, all for regional promotions. His first pro fight was in 2008.
The fight with Cleckler was a rematch. Cleckler beat him under the Island Fights banner in 2013. Cleckler came into the BKFC 20 fight with an 11-1 MMA record and two knockout wins for BKFC.

 

[Ace70 V2]

R.I.P.

 

[Asako]

Very sad, the fight game is no joke. Condolences to his family.

 

[KID Yamamoto]

I had a friend of mine recently on life support from a brutal fall. Luckily he's made a full recovery after a few months outside some PT but its really tragic to hear this kinda stuff. RIP Justin.

 

[WhosTheBoss]

Very sad to hear and see.

and you’ll still have knuckleheads on here wanting strikes to back of head and other BS tactics.
Rip

 

[DatSamboKid]

This is truly heartbreaking. Rest In Peace Justin.

I wonder what’s going to be the response to this?

 

[RiseAboveHat]

I've seen better "Fights" at happy hour of my local bar.

R.I.P. Sucks to die from doing something like that for "Entertainment". It's one thing in BKFC when you have two competent opoonents, it's another when the fight looks like two drunk guys were pulled from the crowd to go brawl for no reason other then a pity of a paycheck

 

[315MMAFighter]

Justin Thornton, whose MMA career included 24 pro fights, has died after injuries sustained in a knockout loss at BKFC 20 in August.
BKFC president Dave Feldman confirmed Thornton’s death to MMA Junkie on Monday following an initial report from My MMA News.
“This morning we were very saddened to be notified of the passing of one of our fighters, Justin Thornton, who competed at BKFC-20 on August 20, 2021,” Feldman told MMA Junkie in a prepared statement. “We join the rest of the combat sports community in sending our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
The 38-year-old Thornton took the bareknuckle fight with Cleckler on a five-fight skid in MMA – all first-round stoppages, including two knockout losses. He hadn’t won an MMA fight since October 2016. His most recent MMA loss came in less than a minute to MMA promoter Lex McMahon, who was fighting as a pro for the first time.
Thornton’s career MMA record was 8-16, all for regional promotions. His first pro fight was in 2008.
The fight with Cleckler was a rematch. Cleckler beat him under the Island Fights banner in 2013. Cleckler came into the BKFC 20 fight with an 11-1 MMA record and two knockout wins for BKFC.

Oh snap!? Rest in peace Thornton

 

[jsbx45]

RIP Very Sad.

 

[estranged]

Mod edit:
RIP Justin Thornton

-----​

Previous/Original post:

I thought I would post this here as the BKFC events get play by play in the heavies, but please mods, feel free to move it.

So I hadn't heard any updates from the event management myself, and have been doing a little digging and found this Reddit post.



According to this post, once he was knocked out and faceplanted the canvas, he didn't move a muscle at all, horrifying the audience there.

A post from a user earlier posted this:



Here is the Podcast, where she talks about it around the 15 minute mark.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live...0T-GK1C&v=205651178246735&ref=watch_permalink

Spoiler: Here is the knockout

Please pray for Justin Thornton.

I hope he makes a full recovery, and my thoughts are with him, his friends and family at this tragic time.

Here’s the video

 

[Sixstring]

Tragic.

 

[VinceArch]

Damn... Best wishes to his friends and family. RIP.

 

[J0N0]

That's terrible. It really does seem odds-defying that no one has died in a high profile mma org yet, especially with the way fights are made in Bellator these days with a lot of squash matches and big names who should be retired.

 

[HeDidn'tWantTheFight]

39 years old with 10 knockout losses and a very bad record.

I'm not sure the ACs should be giving guys like this a license. RIP

 

[EndlessCritic]

That's terrible. It really does seem odds-defying that no one has died in a high profile mma org yet, especially with the way fight are made in Bellator these days with a lot of squash matches and big names who should be retired.

Completely agreed. At the current streak of luck, I think we're due for two fatalities on a single major card.

 

[TorontoTO]

It's on the commissions and also the promoters for booking these types of fights. That's why I am not a fan of Masvidal booking Charles Bennett to get KOd again just last week