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

[Luckyme]

RIP. This is really tragic news.

I wonder though, was it the single KO that caused it or other factors such as cumulative head trauma, underlying health issues, etc.?

 

[blaseblah]

Damn...

More fuel to the fighters pay discussion.
You risk your life going in there each time and then Dana gives you your 10k/10k paycheck lol.
It's a miracle people drop dead in the UFC also considering how bad reffing if sometimes.

Makes you wonder why this has never happened in the UFC despite how long they've been in business.

 

[Final Say]

RIP..

BKFC is in jeopardy with this shit..

Bare knuckle fighting is stupid. That shit needs to go away.

it had nothing to do with being bare knuckle. it was a bad match up, brutal ko and he landed right on his head and neck. could happen in any sport at any time, but the fight shouldnt have been sanctioned.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

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

Dude was a competent MMA fighter.

He had an 8-11 record and had been doing it professionally for over 10 years. He was on a 5 fight losing streak when he left MMA and started doing BKB so at one point he was 8-6 in MMA which is a winning record. And if I read it correctly he was 1-1 in BKB(?) So dude was a competent opponent.

No need to shit of a guy because he doesn't meet your physical standards. Especially no need to shit on a dead guy and dismiss his athletic background.

 

[Timewave zero]

Just.... fuck. That's horrible. How the fuck did he even get sanctioned to compete in bkfc with an mma record of 8-16? Who looks at this shit? Fire their ass

 

[Final Say]

Dude was a competent MMA fighter.

He had an 8-11 record and had been doing it professionally for over 10 years. He was on a 5 fight losing streak when he left MMA and started doing BKB so at one point he was 8-6 in MMA which is a winning record. And if I read it correctly he was 1-1 in BKB(?) So dude was a competent opponent.

No need to shit of a guy because he doesn't meet your physical standards. Especially no need to shit on a dead guy and dismiss his athletic background.

8-11 and 8-6 are terrible records and he never belonged in the ring with the guy he fought.

 

[PhilMcCavity]

Sad and avoidable

 

[textwarrior]

RIP, wow, he did not know he was going to die walking out to that cage. But, being a fighter you have to know the risk is there. Very sad news.

The way he dropped and hit his head. He did not look like he belonged there from the start of the fight. His feet position and running forward just looked dangerous. I seen it before when the hips are squared forward in a fight how the impact of the fall ends up killing them. I remember a kid in High School died, there was a video, same thing. He stood straight forward and some kid just punched him. He was KO'd before he fell. But when he fell, he fell back, and the neck and head bounced and whipped. It was that combination.

 

[Catlin]

RIP, thats awful. and not a good look for bare knuckle

 

[dogsdonutsdragons]

i hate to say this but this is why combat sports need to remain sports and not entertainment. matches need to be fair and even. heavy regulated medicals things like this. its not about the show must go on, or building stars, or making match up based on what will get the card kos. they don't have a strong anti doping program too. the way the man fell was just unfortunate. but this is going to happen in the big leagues in a fight that should have never been put together if they don't leave the entertainment bullcrap to the wwe.

 

[Just Creed]

That is horrendous. Poor guy

 

[ThunderL1ps]

RIP

Sad for the family and friends of both fighters. May have been avoidable with more restrictive measures.

 

[Bojka]

Makes you wonder why this has never happened in the UFC despite how long they've been in business.

Maybe the UFC has better pre-fight medicals?

 

[austinblair]

Shut it down. Fun while it lasted. Not worth a man losing his life over.

Rest In Peace to that warrior.

 

[blaseblah]

Maybe the UFC has better pre-fight medicals?

Would this guy not have passed medicals?

 

[Bojka]

Would this guy not have passed medicals?

I have no idea. What I read is he had spinal inflammation. Not sure exactly what killed him (perhaps brain inflammation), but presumably he could have had some degree of it it before the fight.

 

[nublood]

Tragic but not surprising. Injury, CTE, psychological trauma, and even death are a by product of combat sports. If you expect anything less, then you're watching or following the wrong sport. That being said, my condolences to his friends and family.

 

[RiotWyatt]

Thornton looked like he didn't belong in any kind of combat sport. Shame on the gym that kept sending him out to get KOd.

At one point, any responsible trainer should sit you down and tell you that you don't have what it takes. After over 20 professional fights, if you still fight the way Thornton did, you aren't getting anywhere and only causing harm to your health.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Damn. Very, very sad. I hate to have to read this.

 

[dogsdonutsdragons]

Thornton looked like he didn't belong in any kind of combat sport. Shame on the gym that kept sending him out to get KOd.

At one point, any responsible trainer should sit you down and tell you that you don't have what it takes. After over 20 professional fights, if you still fight the way Thornton did, you aren't getting anywhere and only causing harm to your health.

there are guys in the ufc with the problem. combat sports are a shit show. shouldn't watch.