Monday 3 October 2016

A 28 year old UFC fighter is hospitalized in critical condition after he was found unresponsive in Florida home with roommate who died on arrival.



Josh Samman, 28, was found unresponsive on Friday along with roommate Troy Kirkingburg, who was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police have not released any details about the incident, but a ring announcer shared on Facebook that Samman was in a coma.

Kirkingburg, also 28, leaves behind both parents along with his fiancee.

An Ultimate Fighting Championship contender was hospitalized in critical condition while his roommate was pronounced dead on arrival, according to numerous reports.

The MMA community was reeling after news broke that Josh Samman, 28, was still fighting for his life after the death of his roommate Troy Kirkingburg, who worked as a ring announcer,Tallahassee.com reported.

Samman, who made his return to the sport after his leg was nearly amputated at the age of 21, detailed his grief, drug use and suicidal thoughts in a memoir written in the wake of his girlfriend's death in 2013.

UFC fighter Josh Samman (pictured) was hospitalized in critical condition.


His roommate Troy Kirkingburg (pictured) was pronounced dead on arrival on Friday.


According to media sources, UFC bloggers and friends, Samman and Kirkingburg were found in a Hollywood, Florida home early Friday.

UFC officials told MMAWeekly.com they were aware of Samman's hospitalization and in contact with his management team.

Samman, who had been training in Tallahassee earlier this week, was reportedly in a coma with a respirator on, according to a Facebook post written by Christopher Rothstein, a ringside announcer in Tampa.

Police have not released any details about the incident, but friends and fans alike spread their well wishes for the fighter.

The owner of the gym where Samman trained told the Tallahassee Democrat: 'We are just sitting here with held breath hoping for the best and praying. It kind of hit us all right in the teeth.'

'There's not enough good stuff to say about the both of them. [Samman] is a tough guy, he fights through things. We are all hoping he comes through.'

Samman made his professional debut in 2007 and was scheduled for his next fight in Albany, New York in December.

When he was 21, he pulled a muscle and suffered a blood clot in his leg, which swelled dramatically after he got on the plane.

He almost lost his leg and an emergency operation resulted in 200 stitches.

Tragedy struck again in 2013 when his girlfriend Hailey Bevis died in a car crash while the two were texting.

The 28-year-old recounted his grief in the book, The Housekeeper: Love, Death & Prizefighting, which was released earlier this year.

It remains unclear how the 28-year-old Kirkingburg died, but he leaves behind both parents, as well as his fiancee and TV anchor Charlene Cristobal, according to his obituary.

She posted a photograph of them together on Sunday, writing: 'Both of us smiling. Together. That's how I'll remember us. Always. I love you.'

Kirkingburg attended Florida State University and went on to work as a MMA ring announcer around the country.

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