Many would agree that 2016 was an exceptional year for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts; some would proffer that it is the best the sport has yet witnessed. The gargantuan $4.2 billion sale of the UFC is emblematic of the bounds made by a sport that has left the nest of nicheness and is beating its wings to the stratosphere.
Conor McGregor’s epoch-making conquest at UFC 205 sent waves that drew gazes, equally far and near, on his bearded, inked corpus and more significantly, the sport itself. Staying true to its tag as a trailblazer, the UFC has announced a fight for the first-of-its-kind Women’s Featherweight Championship. This could be the ink on the first page of what might prove another bestseller, just like the Women’s Bantamweight Division. Dana White, the same man who said that women would never have a place in the UFC, is probably too deep in his lagoon of $360 million for his foot to come anywhere near his mouth.
But, as Oscar Wilde trenchantly said, the truth is rarely pure and never simple. The sun that rises for some, sets on others. The MMA world lost a few of its own; some promising young battlers and and a couple of revered warriors. We may have closed the book on 2016, but let us spare a thought for those who put themselves through the crucible just so we could have something to cheer for.
#7 Ivan “JP” Cole
It is always harrowing to hear of a young life being taken away, even more so when it is by their own hand. 25-year-old Ivan Cole’s body was found in a Dallas apartment, the cause of death being a bullet to the head. What is so disturbing about this tragedy is that he inflicted the fatal blow on himself, through Russian Roulette.
A Bantamweight, Cole had just had debuted for Bellator last year, losing by submission. He was reportedly fined $5000 and suspended for unsportsmanlike conduct. Cole is survived by his wife, Kymberli and a 4-year-old daughter.
#6 Joao Carvalho
28-year-old Carvalho died following a third round TKO loss to Irishman Charlie Ward at a Total Extreme Fighting event on April 9th. The Portugese Welterweight complained of unease, which was followed by headaches and vomiting minutes after the stoppage and was rushed to the hospital.
He was immediately operated upon and kept in the ICU for 48 hours, but his condition plummeted and he could not be saved. Carvalho was bleeding a lot from his nose after the first round, but there was no apparent cause for worry.
Charlie Ward is a member of Straight Blast Gym, Ireland, home to UFC kingpin Conor McGregor. McGregor stated that he believed the fight should have been stopped earlier.
#5 Jordan Parsons
None could’ve imagined that an ordinary day in the life of 25-year-old Jordan Parsons would count tragically, to be one of his last. Parsons was crossing the street after ending a day’s training when he was mowed down by a silver Range Rover.
Parsons spent three days in a coma and his right leg was amputated in an drastic effort to save his life. Cardiac surgery could not resuscitate his barely-functioning heart. Having held a couple of titles in smaller promotions, the promising Featherweight was competing in Bellator and trained out of the renowned Blackzilians gym in Florida.
The culprit, 28-year-old Derek Wright was arrested a few days later. It was discovered that he had had many prior altercations with the law, including DUI and assault on a police officer/firefighter.
Another troubling fact came to light after Parsons’ passing – his autopsy revealed that he had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
#4 Ryan Jimmo
The second victim of a hit-and-run in this assemblage, Jimmo’s death was much more violent than the description would portray. The 34-year-old Canadian had an argument with the driver of a truck in a parking lot and as he was walking away, was run over.
The barbaric knee jerk reaction beggars belief, doesn’t it? The driver, 23-year-old Anthony Getschel and the other occupant of the truck, 21-year-old Jordan Wagner, were arrested and charged.
A contestant on the eighth season of the Ultimate Fighter, Jimmo’s name still stands next to the record for (joint) second-fastest KO in UFC history. He obliterated Anthony Perosh with a right hand in just 7 seconds and then drew even louder applause when he broke into a fluent robot and ended it with a full split.
#3 Josh Samman
Another bright light blown out too soon, Josh Samman had fought five times in the UFC and was a partner in successful Florida MMA promotion, Combat Night. The 28-year-old Middleweight competed on season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter, the same edition that gave the UFC two of its major names, Kelvin Gastelum and the ever-watchable Uriah Hall. Samman entered the semi-final as the favorite, but was submitted by season winner Gastelum.
Samman and his friend, MMA commentator Troy Kirkingburg, were found in the latter’s apartment in Hollywood, Florida. Kirkingburg was found dead by the police and the cause, stated later, was an overdose of cocaine,heroin and ethanol. Samman was comatose for five days before he passed away. The cause of death is suspected to be the same as his friend, but a toxicology examination was not performed due to lack of suitable specimens, according to the Medical Examiner.
Since the death of his girlfriend, Hailey Bevis, in 2013, Samman battled addicition, injuries and depression stemming from her passing. His conscience tormented him following the tragedy, because both of them were texting when Bevis met with an accident that took her life. It is chronicled it in his book “The Housekeeper: Love, Death and Prizefighting”.
Samman made a fairytale comeback in 2014, when he head kicked Eddie Gordon into oblivion. He dedicated the win to his late girlfriend. It is considered one of the best KOs of 2014. Here’s a video:
#4 Kevin Randleman
The MMA world was shell-shocked in February 2016, when it came to light that Kevin Randleman was dead at just 44 years old. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion and a pioneer of the sport, Randleman will always be considered one of the most prodigious pure athletes to step into the octagon.
After winning two NCAA wrestling championships, the second on of those, despite a broken jaw, Randleman ventured into MMA.
Armed with redoubtable physical gifts and skill, Randleman was initially trained by former Olympic wrestler and inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion, “The Godfather of Ground and Pound”, Mark Coleman.
The combination proved deadly, with Randleman winning twelve of his first fifteen fights and then capturing the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
“The Monster” then travelled to Japan, where he gave the MMA world one of the most heart-stopping moments in the sport’s history; “the suplex heard around the world”, in the second round of the 2004 Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix, which the legendary Fedor Emelianenko survived.
Fedor would mount a jaw-dropping comeback and submit Randleman with a Kimura, later on in the round. Another legend, Mirko CroCop, wasn’t that lucky in the prior bracket, as he was finished on the ground after being torn from his senses with a murderous left hook from Randleman.
After Pride closed its doors, Randleman crossed the divide to pro-wrestling, competing in various Japanese promotions. He even challenged WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston to a match in 2009.
Randleman left the world on February 11, 2016, after a heart attack.
#1 Kimbo Slice
One of the last remnants of a world long-forgotten, in today’s MMA environment, Kimbo Slice was akin to a sabretooth tiger in a pack of its sandpapered descendants. That’s no diss to either tigers or MMA fighters, but most would rather not imagine the outcome of a clash between a sabretooth and a Bengal tiger.
Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was a fighter in the most instinctive sense of the term – he grabbed the spotlight after videos surfaced of him fighting tough guys in backyards. Some would call him one of the first viral video stars.
Erstwhile MMA big name EliteXC owed its success to Kimbo, who hauled in the ratings. Neither a technician nor a strategist by far, Kimbo’s seek-and-destroy style was an elixir for the sport. Wherever he went, ratings would follow, evidenced by his last two fights in Bellator cages in 2015 and ‘16, which drew 2.1 million and 2.5 million viewers respectively.
Kimbo beat MMA trailblazer Ken Shamrock in his Bellator debut and longtime friend-turned-rival Dada 5000 in his next bout. The win was expunged after Kimbo tested positive for Nandrolone. Kimbo also competed in professional boxing, defeating all seven of his opponents.
Ferocious once the gloves were on, Kimbo was the antithesis of that outside the ring. He is remembered by the MMA fraternity as a warm person and a loving partner and father, who used the fortune his fists brought him to give his family a good life away from the pernicious ecosystem that plagues so many.
He died of heart failure on June 6, 2016.
