MMA News 2016: Fighter Dies During Fight in Ireland, Conor McGregor Speaks Up
Tragedy has struck the cage-fighting scene in Ireland recently, as one of the fighters during Saturday Night's Total Extreme Fighting 1 had died due to injury.
In a report by Bloody Elbow, Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho died at the Beaumont hospital in Dublin, following his third round TKO loss to local pugilist Charlie Ward. Ward is a teammate of UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor out of the local Straight Blast Gym.
In a Facebook post by Carvalho's coach, it was revealed that the fighter passed away on Monday, April 11th at 9:35pm in the said hospital, after 48 hours of being in a 'critical state'.
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The same post also clarified that all safety rules were followed by the promotion company, and that the referee in charge of the action also complied with the usual procedures. Carvalho was believed to have "felt unwell" 20 minutes after the fight.
For his part, a 'heartbroken' McGregor issued a statement through social media, where he expressed his condolences to Carvalho's family.
"It is easy for those on the outside to criticise our way of living, but for the millions of people around the world who have had their lives, their health, their fitness and their mental strength all changed for the better through combat, this is truly a bitter pill to swallow. We have lost one of us," an excerpt of McGregor's post reads.
McGregor also hopes that Carvalho would be remembered as a "champion who pursued his dream" and "did what he loved".
In another report by the Guardian, Ireland's minister of sport Michael Ring has declared that he will be pushing for the regulation of mixed martial arts in their country, following the tragic incident.
"Whoever is hosting that event has to comply with those safety standards and we need to bring in some kind of regulation to deal with this new phenomenon," Ring said.
