Tag: Breaking News

Shane del Rosario passed away late Sunday evening in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 30 years old.

The UFC heavyweight was hospitalized Nov. 26 after suffering a “catastrophic cardiac collapse.” He was resuscitated but taken off life support on Nov. 29. 

Miraculously, del Rosario survived 10 days off life support, even showing brief flashes of improvement, before succumbing to the complications sustained from the heart attack. 

Del Rosario’s friend and teammate, UFC flyweight Ian McCall, posted the following to Instagram Monday: 

RIP to one of the best people I’ve ever had the honor to have in my life and call my best friend.@shanedelrosario helped me threw the toughest time in my life and helped me raise my daughter. Love you big fella. #ohana

McCall was the one who discovered del Rosario shortly after the initial bout of cardiac arrest on November 26.

MMAJunkie.com has an official statement from the UFC along with some additional details.

“The Ultimate Fighting Championship mourns the tragic loss of heavyweight competitor Shane Del Rosario, who has passed away at the age of 30,” the UFC said in a statement. “Del Rosario suffered a heart attack on Tuesday, Nov. 26 as a result of what doctors believe to a congenital heart disorder, according to his manager Jason House. The entire organization sends its deepest condolences to Shane’s family and friends.”

The UFC did not disclose the time of death. A request for comment from Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif., where del Rosario was admitted after the heart attack, was not immediately returned on Monday.

Prior to his heart troubles, del Rosario battled back from a serious car accident in April 2011, extending his career for two fights inside the UFC Octagon. He lost to Stipe Miocic and Pat Barry via knockout in each of those two 2012 bouts.

Before landing in the UFC, the powerful kickboxer posted an outstanding 11-0 record in professional competition, including a three-fight winning streak in Strikeforce that was highlighted by a victory over former UFC fighter Lavar Johnson in February 2011.

All of his 11 victories in this stretch came via knockout or submission, which earned him a reputation as one of the most dangerous finishers in the heavyweight division. 

Del Rosario was recently scheduled to face Guto Inocente at UFC 168 before both men were forced to pull out with injures. 

Bleacher Report would like to extend condolences to all those affected in this trying time. 

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Now-former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren appeared on today’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and dropped bombshell after bombshell regarding his present and future in MMA. The biggest, most important topic he covered was his future in MMA.

After weeks of rumbles, Askren officially revealed that he will be leaving Bellator and will join Singapore-based promotion ONE FC. 

The announcement hardly comes as a surprise, with Bloody Elbow revealing last week that Askren had joined Evolve MMA, a gym he had previously trained at and home to numerous ONE FC fighters such as Leandro Issa, Eddie Ng and many more. Askren joins numerous high-profile fighters in ONE, including Japanese submission artist Shinya Aoki, famed bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes and former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.

The announcement still comes as something of a surprise, however, as many predicted that Askren would join World Series of Fighting, including UFC President Dana White who strongly suggested he join the promotion to “show what he’s got” in an interview with MMA Junkie.

According to Askren, though, it was Dana’s suggestion that ultimately pushed him to join ONE. “I thought we were going to come to a deal [with the UFC],” he said. “It’s clear that it isn’t about me, it’s about Dana’s quarrel with Bellator.” When a WSOF contract slid over his desk after being officially shot down by the UFC, though, he refused to let them call the shots for him, “I’ve got a really hard time with people telling me what to do, and if I’m you’re employee, I’m going to listen to you…but now I’m not your employee and you’re telling me what to do? That’s crazy.

Ultimately, the welterweight seems content with where he’s at, and flatly stated he will be making more money than 85 to 90 percent of UFC fighters. 

Unfortunately, ONE has a limited roster of welterweights. While he ultimately would have had the opportunity to face relatively established fighters like Jon Fitch and Josh Burkman in WSOF, the only opponent that lies on the horizon for him in ONE would be journeyman Phil Baroni, who is 2-7 since 2009.

Only time will tell what will happen with Askren in Asia.

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It may take one of the richest deals in the UFC to ink 18-time, three-division world boxing champ Holly Holm to a contract.  

When speaking with Sherdog.com, Holm’s manager, Lenny Fresquez, was an open book when it came to his client’s sought-after UFC contract, which includes a six-figure deal and a title shot against Ronda Rousey.

We’re just waiting for them to give us the right opportunity to fight Ronda Rousey because we want a title fight. We want to fight the best UFC fighter. …We’re looking for six figures, and there’s not too many fighters in the UFC that make six figures. Right now, Holly has probably earned more than about 80-percent of the male fighters in the UFC and probably earned more than 98-percent of the female fighters.

Before transitioning to MMA in 2011, Holm was touted as the top pound-for-pound women’s boxer in the world. She ended her boxing career with an unbelievable record of 33-2 and a legacy that stands alone with some of boxing’s all-time greats.

It’s been nothing but smooth sailing for the 32-year-old Jackson’s MMA prodigy since making the transition. On Friday night, she extended her record to 6-0 with a unanimous decision win over Angela Hayes at Fresquez Productions: Havoc.

With all her other wins coming by knockout, it marked the first time in Holm’s MMA career a fight went the distance.

During the post-fight media scrum for UFC 166, UFC President Dana White admitted that he had never seen Holm fight, and he didn’t even know what she looked like. Yet, he still knew who she was due to constant pressure from the media and fans to sign her. He even went as far as to call her the “female Conor McGregor” in regards to early popularity.

According to Fresquez, Holm and company aren’t attempting to be disrespectful or cause a rift in the negotiation process. The end goal is to see Holm put pen to paper on a UFC contract and start performing on the big stage in front of millions of fans.

Everything up until that point is just business.

We’d like to work with them, Fresquez told Sherdog. We’re not going to be disrespectful to the UFC, but they’ve also got to understand that they bought Strikeforce, they bought different ones. Holly’s a franchise. She’s not your normal fighter. She’s more of a franchise, a key marquee. To be honest with you, I think she’d represent the face of the UFC better than Ronda Rousey.

Will the UFC go out and spend big money on the “female Conor McGregor”? The ball is once again in Dana White’s court.

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