Tag: Blas Avena

10 MMA Fighters Who Passed Away In 2016

As 2016 rapidly draws to a conclusion and we take stock of the year gone by, one trend that casts a long shadow is the alarming number of past and present MMA fighters who’ve died over the past 12 months. Unfortunately the sport of mixed martial arts is still too young for this to simply

The post 10 MMA Fighters Who Passed Away In 2016 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

As 2016 rapidly draws to a conclusion and we take stock of the year gone by, one trend that casts a long shadow is the alarming number of past and present MMA fighters who’ve died over the past 12 months.

Unfortunately the sport of mixed martial arts is still too young for this to simply be a case of stars passing away due to old age. In fact, with the age of the 10 fighters listed here ranging from just 25-49 years old, we are left having to come to terms with the fact that these were 10 lives that were simply taken far too soon.

A knee-jerk reaction would be to assume that these deaths occurred due to injuries they sustained in the cage, but the truth is that only one of the ten passed away in that manner – although we can surely all agree that’s one too many.

As you’ll read in the pages to follow however, the reasons for the others deaths are just as hard to accept, from sudden medical emergencies to apparent suicide, from freak accidents to cold-blooded murder.

The post 10 MMA Fighters Who Passed Away In 2016 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former WEC & Bellator Fighter Blas Avena Dies, Suicide Being Investigated

Former WEC and Bellator MMA fighter Blas Avena was found dead at the age of 32 inside his apartment in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday. According to a TMZ.com report, Avena’s death is being investigated by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department as a suic…

blas-avena

Former WEC and Bellator MMA fighter Blas Avena was found dead at the age of 32 inside his apartment in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday. According to a TMZ.com report, Avena’s death is being investigated by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department as a suicide.

“Arriving police and medical personnel located an adult male who was pronounced deceased at the scene,” a spokesman for the Las Vegas Metro Police Department told TMZ. “As of now, the death is being investigated as a suicide.”

Additionally, the TMZ report stated that an autopsy was conducted earlier this week, however “officials won’t name an official cause of death until further tests are completed.”

War Machine to Make Bellator Debut on June 19th, Unless Something Crazy Happens


(They can put you behind bars. They can fire you for being an idiot. But damn it, they’ll never take your sense of joy.)

On June 19th, War Machine (formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver) will finally make his Bellator debut, when he faces WEC veteran Blas Avena at Bellator 96. The fight will come four-and-a-half years after the short-fused welterweight was first signed by Bellator back in early 2009. Let’s just say their schedules haven’t matched up since then.

First, Machine was fired by Bellator for suggesting that President Obama — and every president after him — should be assassinated. Then, he embarked on a brief but rewarding career in porn which ended in a punch-up at a birthday party. Then, he spent a year in jail for one of his various assault charges. Then he had to go back to jail for one of his various assault charges, which led to the cancellation of a scheduled fight against Karl Amoussou. Then, he had to pull out of his next scheduled fight against Paul Daley due to a partially torn ACL, which pretty much takes us to the present day.

Now that War Machine is all healed up, he’ll allegedly be making his Bellator debut on the promotion’s 2013 Summer Series premiere on Spike TV, assuming he doesn’t beat up another civilian, or sustain another training injury, or get cut again for simply expressing his honest thoughts. Machine hasn’t competed since his TKO win over Roger Huerta in November 2011, while Avena recently snapped a two-year winless streak by TKO’ing Lenny Lovato at Bellator 91 in February.

Can War Machine rebuild his career in the #2 MMA promotion? And what the hell kind of name is “Blas,” anyway?


(They can put you behind bars. They can fire you for being an idiot. But damn it, they’ll never take your sense of joy.)

On June 19th, War Machine (formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver) will finally make his Bellator debut, when he faces WEC veteran Blas Avena at Bellator 96. The fight will come four-and-a-half years after the short-fused welterweight was first signed by Bellator back in early 2009. Let’s just say their schedules haven’t matched up since then.

First, Machine was fired by Bellator for suggesting that President Obama — and every president after him — should be assassinated. Then, he embarked on a brief but rewarding career in porn which ended in a punch-up at a birthday party. Then, he spent a year in jail for one of his various assault charges. Then he had to go back to jail for one of his various assault charges, which led to the cancellation of a scheduled fight against Karl Amoussou. Then, he had to pull out of his next scheduled fight against Paul Daley due to a partially torn ACL, which pretty much takes us to the present day.

Now that War Machine is all healed up, he’ll allegedly be making his Bellator debut on the promotion’s 2013 Summer Series premiere on Spike TV, assuming he doesn’t beat up another civilian, or sustain another training injury, or get cut again for simply expressing his honest thoughts. Machine hasn’t competed since his TKO win over Roger Huerta in November 2011, while Avena recently snapped a two-year winless streak by TKO’ing Lenny Lovato at Bellator 91 in February.

Can War Machine rebuild his career in the #2 MMA promotion? And what the hell kind of name is “Blas,” anyway?