A Legacy Fighting Alliance fighter claims he died in the cage on Friday before being revived by paramedics when his heart stopped. CJ Hancock posted a Facebook update on Saturday morning to say that he is ‘okay’ and recovering in the hospital. During a fight against Charlie Ontiveros at LFA 26 in Houston Hancock suddenly collapsed.
A medical team rushed into the ring and resuscitated him, restarting his heart and bringing him to a stable condition. He was then taken to the Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital in Houston where it was determined he had kidney failure.
‘Well I died tonight in the cage,’ Hancock wrote on Facebook Saturday morning.
‘They did CPR on me and hit me with the EKG twice and brought me back.’
The 32-year-old explained that he isn’t sure what happened, and that even though his doctors have said he should not fight again he still plans on competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and superfights when he regains his health.
‘I’m broken,’ the amateur fighter from Texas wrote on Facebook.
‘I guess I’ll just be a coach from now on. I still plan on competing in Brazilian Jiu jitsu and BJJ superfights, when I get better.’
His girlfriend Christine Ross wrote on Facebook Saturday morning that Hancock was resting and had been hooked up to a fourth IV bag to treat ‘severe dehydration.’
She said her boyfriend was sore and had reopened some battle scars from previous fights, but that he is expected to make a full recovery.
The 32-year-old explained that he isn’t sure what happened, and that even though his doctors have said he should not fight again he still plans on competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and superfights when he regains his healt
Hancock was competing at the Arena Theater when he collapsed in the fight against Charlie Ontiberos.
A well-respected striking coach who was watching the fight, Steven Wright, tweeted that Hancock was fatigued when he fell, and that it wasn’t because he had been knocked out.
LFA CEO Ed Soares disputed that claim in a statement to MMA fighting, saying he was on the end of a receiving body-kick when he collapsed.
‘It’s a very unfortunate situation where CJ Hancock took a body kick during his fight,’ Soares said in the statement, according to MMAfighting.com.
‘After the kick landed there was a few second delay, and then he collapsed in the cage. Our cutman David Daldonado immediately recognized the problem and signaled to the medical team sitting cageside.
‘They were able to resuscitate and stabilize CJ and took him to the hospital via ambulance where they determined he had suffered kidney failure. CJ is currently recovering and in the company of friends and family.’