BKFC fighter dies after Knockout

Damn. Bye bye buff. Hardly knew ya.

Rip

Hard way to go out.

Rest In Peace

RIP

Well that’s not good. RIP

RIP

I hope there is a follow up about exact cause of death because I’m not seeing it. He hit the canvas quite hard but… it’s a canvas, not asphalt.

RiP

That’s gotta fuck with the guy…knowing that happened. Shit.

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Yeah, that was absolute horrible match making by BKFC and they should be liable. It was quite obvious the second that fight started that he was a sacrificial lamb.

RIP

Sad story, and not great matchmaking by the sounds of it. From the MMAjunkie article:

The 38-year-old Thornton took the bareknuckle fight with Cleckler on a five-fight skid in MMA – all first-round stoppages, including two knockout losses. He hadn’t won an MMA fight since October 2016. His most recent MMA loss came in less than a minute to MMA promoter Lex McMahon, who was fighting as a pro for the first time.

Thornton’s career MMA record was 8-16, all for regional promotions. His first pro fight was in 2008.

The fight with Cleckler was a rematch. Cleckler beat him under the Island Fights banner in 2013. Cleckler came into the BKFC 20 fight with an 11-1 MMA record and two knockout wins for BKFC.

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One of the articles said something about him dealing with an infection from a spinal injury sustained in the fight. They didn’t say that was the cause of death, but mentioned he was dealing with the spinal injury and infection, and had been on a ventilator.

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If he had a spinal infection, combined with the way he landed, perhaps he struck his spine? I have no idea but it sounds possible.

I took it to mean the awkward face first fall caused the injury that led to the infection while in the hospital, but I have no clue. Sucks either way, RIP.

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Oh, interesting. Do you have a link?

BKFC fighter Justin Thornton dies after suffering knockout loss at BKFC 20 - MMA Fighting

Thanks bro!

Looks like he jammed/pinched his spine falling face first
Very sad

RIP Big Man