First Documented MMA Death – REACTION
By johnnyp on Dec 02, 2007
Sam Vasquez passed away Friday night in Houston. He had been in a coma since shortly after a fight weeks ago in the same city. He was 35. Coverage can be found here and here.
Luke Thomas has a thought on this tragedy.
I’d like to extend condolences to the Vasquez family for all of us here at MMAOpinion. While we all love to watch, cover, and editorialize Mixed Martial Arts not only here on the site, but as a community online and in print, no one watches MMA to see a death. True fans do not see Mixed Martial Arts as a death sport, but as a fighter’s personal challenge, a demonstration and practical use of many art forms, on some levels a form of entertainment, and on others as a sport. This is a sad weekend to be an MMA fan, but Sam Vasquez’s death should be acknowledged by all and respects should be paid. No one should run away from this reality. Not the fans, the media, or the fighters/promotions. I encourage everyone to logically and rationally discuss this death with anyone who uses it as a tool by which to discredit MMA, or to perversely praise it.
This is the test. It’s been coming for years. With all due respect to Mr. Vasquez, had it not been him, it was going to be someone else. Once the family of Vasquez has buried him and hopefully the MMA community is strong enough to show a huge outpouring of respect, the real challenge is ahead. Sadly, the story will not be of this man’s death, but that there was a death in MMA, and we’ll finally see if the sport can weather the storm and stay in the mainstream. The way this is covered and the way those in power in MMA respond will tell the tale. It would be a black eye to not face this head on, and even though this did not happen in the UFC, Elite XC, or the IFL, it’s important that Dana White, Gary Shaw, and Jay Larkin not dismiss this death or act defensive the moment the first mainstream reporter calls. Public perception and corporate perception could influence TV deals like CBS or even existing deals like Spike and Showtime. Backing of Elite XC could be threatened if Showtime pulled financial support. The IFL could lose any deal they might have for TV next season. Sponsors of all MMA could decide to void contracts.
I’m not saying this will happen, but I am saying it can become a reality quicker then many people think. To paraphrase a very respectable Pro Wrestling and MMA reporter, decisions are made in the board room by corporations and/or TV executives who often have nothing to do with the product you follow. Keep that in mind.
Please keep your heads about you, everyone. The mature and thought out measured response is the responsible and correct response. I thank Sam Vasquez for his efforts and hope he died doing what he loves to do.
Filed Under: MMA
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I received an email from a reader directing me back to the txmma.com forums for the news of Vasquez’s death.
Although Vasquez died as a result of his knockout, some of the setbacks that occurred during his time in the hospital were reported from other injuries.
The problem now is the expected accusation of ‘not doing enough’ to keep fighters safe. We’ll see what happens.
I would hope the tact of “after the fact” setbacks in health is not the defense mechanism most fans will take, because ultimately Vasquez died as a result of the fight, as you pointed out. I don’t think that we, MMA supporters, should run away from this story or make many excuses. He was medically cleared and he had no pre-existing problems, according to his wife. Something that is unfortunate is that he was 35, and according to a participant on the FightOpinion forum, under Texas law he would have been more thoroughly checked on medically if he were 36. One of the sad ironies is the fact that there has to be an age cut off at some point for many of these tests, I’d assume for financial reasons, and when you’re a healthy 35 year old man, it isn’t expected you’ll die in the ring. Unfortunately, it was a game of odds and numbers, and he was the first. I don’t think this was a state commission oversight, at least not with the evidence (and w/o an autopsy) we have now.