Professional MMA fighter Clovis “C.J.” Hancock stated that on November 3rd, in a fight with Charlie Ontiveros, he was dead for 5 minutes. In the second round of the fight, C.J. collapsed onto his back and went into cardiac arrest. Then his kidneys failed. Medical professionals proceeded to rush to his aid immediately. After saving him, they told the 32-year-old fighter that he was dead for up to five minutes inside the cage. Hancock doesn’t remember anything from that round until he woke up in a hospital bed.
Hancock doesn’t believe the cause of his near death had anything to do with the fight. He feels it was because he had to cut 45 pounds in a week, including 20 pounds of water weight. When he was in the hospital recovering, Hancock needed 8 bags of saline so that he could return to a safe hydration level.
Hancock typically fights at a weight of 215 pounds but the opportunity to battle Ontiveros at 170 was too enticing to pass up. Hancock fights for the Legacy Fighting Alliance promotion and fighting Ontiveros, who has heavy experience fighting in a larger promotion in Bellator MMA, would be the stepping stone to ultimately moving up to the UFC. But now that dream is shattered as he will never be able to cut weight again as it is detrimental to his health. He now plans to pursue Brazilian jiu-jitsu “super fights” as cutting weight is not necessary.
Source: bleacherreport.com
