Sad news, MMA related death

Not sure on the details yet but it appears a guy making his pro debut, Michael Tree Kirkham, died after his fight in South Carolina this past weekend.

Wow sucky. Did he lose or take a lot of damage?

Not sure. From the little things I've found so far, this is not information given to me: The event took place in South Carolina. According to his wife he wasn't even supposed to legally be fighting this event. The only medical he went through was an eye exam. His wife said that the ref stopped the fight in plenty of time. The shots had been really fast without much power. He was 6'9" and fought at 155.

This is his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000729822766&ref=ts#!/profile.php?id=100000729822766&v=wall&ref=ts

I sent out an email to try and get more info and see if they heard anything at the NJ Commission

Here is an interesting quote from his facebook;

Quote :

i am the only 6ft9in 155lbs lightweight fighter in the world

That is a shocking statistic. Sad to say but doing that to his body must have contributed.

I'm interested in the details of this

holy fuck. 6'9" and fighting at 155? He must have been more brittle and stretched than Corey Hill

He fought at 6'9 and 155 lbs?!

He must have looked like some starved man from a concentration camp back during the fuckin holocaust! WOW

I wonder what his weight cut was? Body fat %? He might have done some serious damage to his body before he stepped in that cage.

If his wife is saying he shouldn't have legally been fighting, then he is a moron. There are rules in place to keep these things from happening and whoever put that show on needs to be brought in before the commission to answer for charges, should it be proven that fighting contributed to his death.

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

If his wife is saying he shouldn't have legally been fighting, then he is a moron. There are rules in place to keep these things from happening and whoever put that show on needs to be brought in before the commission to answer for charges, should it be proven that fighting contributed to his death.

Absolutely.

I cannot honestly picture someone being 6'9 and 155 lbs.

That'd be like someone my height at 6'0, weighing about 85-90 lbs.

That's kinda gross, and he is married? Riiiiiiiiight.

Is this him?

more info: I figure I should drop in and say a little here. I drove him down to the fights and cornered him. I'm also good friends with the matchmaker of the event. The ending of the fight actually occurred right by our corner so I saw everything that went on. He was taken down, mounted, and his opponent landed some hard shots. The ref stepped in and stopped it. It was a good stoppage, definitely not late. He was out and medical personnel had trouble getting him conscious so he was taken away in an ambulance. Last I've heard is that he's still in the hospital and that he hasn't passed away. Seems like bleeding in the brain from what I'm hearing though. Keep him in your prayers and thoughts. We're all hoping for the best.

and as for the medicals. South Carolina requires bloodwork (HIV, HEP B & C) and also an eye exam to compete as a professional. he completed all of the necessary requirements but who knows, maybe this will cause the state to consider stricter requirements for pro fighters.

Jesus christ that is a skinny fuck...thats pretty close to the picture I just posted...only with a LITTLE more protein in his system keeping him from being skin and bone like the old asian dude in that pic I posted.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=662190447&v=wall

timeline of his injury and death through the eye of social networking.

very sad, honestly though 6'9 155 , what the hell was his physicians thinking Im 5'11 and hover around 145-160

will pray for him

very sad. I hope they do a full investigation to make sure all the proper pre-fight medical tests were done and done properly.

June 28, 2010
Augusta Chronicle
Martial arts fighter dies
By Stephanie Toone
Staff Writer
Monday, June 28, 2010 3:13 PM
Last updated 3:49 PM
AIKEN - A fighter in Saturday’s mixed martial arts match in Aiken died
this morning from injuries sustained in the fight.

Michael Kirkham, 30, was pronounced dead at 8:25 a.m. at Aiken Regional
Medical Center as a result of a brain hemorrhage, said Aiken County
Coroner Tim Carlton.

Kirkham had competed in six amateur matches, but Saturday’s
Confrontation at the Convocation, held at University of South Carolina
Aiken’s Convocation Center, was his first professional match, Carlton
said. The sport is a full-contact combat sport involving a variety of
fighting techniques. USC Aiken student Kelly Cook was a featured fighter
in the event. Kirkham of Gaston, S.C., competed in one of 15 fights
during the MMA event.

“During the event, he had received several blows to the head during the
first round of his match,” Carlton said. “The referee stopped the match.
He lost consciousness, and he never regained consciousness.”

Carlton and officials with the South Carolina State Athletic Commission
are reviewing video of the match to determine whether any charges will
be filed.

An autopsy will be conducted on Kirkham’s body Tuesday in Newberry, S.C.

who the hell would they charge????

they need to go look into the Athletic commission not the ref or fighter

what a crock of shit

just like when Ray Robinson killed Billy Doyle

the men at the morgue questioned Robinson at the morgue with police there they asked Robinson "did you mean to get him in trouble Ray?"

Robinson looked them dead in the eye and said "Mister its my business to get them in trouble"

Just saw this. Thought it was a bit interesting. They consider a 15 year old in TJ to be the first MMA death.

http://ejmas.com/jcs/velazquez/jcsart_svinth_mma_0712.html

They claim it happened in 1981. MMA didn't exist at this time except for underground/pit fighting & Vale Tudo. This is a horseshit article.

It's a huge reach. But it shows the scarcity in fatalities when they have to draw a case of a 15 year old in Tijuana in an unsanctioned fight. IT was billed as a mixed boxing, karate, jiu-jitsu fight. Mixed martial arts = better name.

That was only like an abstract. I haven't read the full journal article, I imagine it has deep info and rationale.

http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_svinth_a_0700.htm

Looking at it now there is a lot of data

Example:

6d. Amateur Boxing

During 1982, USA Boxing sanctioned 23,528 bouts between male amateur boxers. [EN14] Divide 23,528 by 12, and the result is 1,961 bouts per month. The Data document 16 amateur boxing deaths in the USA between January 1979 and May 2003. Nine of these deaths happened during training, and seven of these deaths happened as the result of contest injuries. Thus, the death rate for male amateur boxers appears to be about 13.9 per million participants, and about 6.1 per million during contests ([16/7 deaths/[293 months x {1,961 bouts per month x 2 fighters per bout}] x 1,000,000).



6e. Original Toughman

Between January 1979 and May 2003, seven men died during Original Toughman events. During early 2003, Original Toughman’s co-creator Art Dore told Detroit journalists that he had promoted about 75,000 bouts since Toughman’s inception in 1979. [EN15] That works out to about 60 bouts per week, 52 weeks per year, for each of the preceding 24 years (75,000 bouts/52 weeks/24 years).

Subjectively, that sounds a bit high, especially for the first few years of the promotion. Nonetheless, if we accept Dore’s datum at face value, then the death rate for male participants in Original Toughman appears to be around 47 deaths per million participants (7 deaths /[75,000 matches x 2 participants] x 1,000,000).