Fighter Dies During LFA Fight, Is Revived Moments Later

Tragedy struck LFA’s CJ Hancock when the fighter’s heart stopped during his fight on Friday night in Houston, Texas. Now, however, it would appear that the fighter has been successfully resuscitated and is recovering from the incident.

CJ Hancock faced off against Charlie Ontiveros at LFA 26 on Friday, but the fight fell short after Hancock faced a body kick from his opponent. LFA CEO Ed Soares has now offered details on the incident. In a statement to MMA Fighting, Soares said:

“It’s a very unfortunate situation where C.J. Hancock took a body kick during his fight. After the kick landed, there was a few second delay, and then he collapsed in the cage. Our cutman David Maldonado immediately recognized the problem and signaled to the medical team sitting cageside. They were able to resuscitate and stabilize C.J. and took him to the hospital via ambulance where they determined he had suffered kidney failure. C.J. is currently recovering and in the company of his friends and family.”

Hancock took to social media to offer some more details on the incident, claiming that he had a “hard weight cut” before suffering kidney failure.

Here is Hancock’s statement:

“Well I died tonight in the cage…. I’m okay. Thanks everyone. I’ll replay when I can. My heart stopped, and I had kidney failure, they did CPR and hit me with the EKG twice and brought me back. Still unsure why it happened. I had a hard weight cut. Doc says I shouldn’t fight again… I’m broken, 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. Thanks to everyone that supported me!”