Mixed-martial-arts competitor Michael Kirkham died this morning as a result of injuries sustained from a professional mixed-martial-arts bout this past Saturday at the USC Aiken Convocation Center in South Carolina.
WRDW News in Augusta, S.C., first reported the news.
Kirkham, 30, suffered repeated blows to the head during an MMA event dubbed "Confrontation at Convocation Center" and collapsed afterward.
He was taken unconscious to the Aiken Regional Medical Center, where he died from brain hemorrhaging, a representative of the Aiken County Coroner's office today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com).
An autopsy on the fighter is expected for Tuesday morning, the ACC representative said.
According to an amateur fighter database hosted on mixedmartialarts.com, Kirkham held a 1-3 record with two losses by way of TKO. The June 26 fight marked his pro debut.
A representative for the South Carolina Athletic Commission directed MMAjunkie.com to an officer for the state's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, who was unavailable for comment.
Kirkham is the second fighter to die as a result of injuries sustained during a professional MMA bout. Houston-based fighter Sam Vasquez lapsed into a coma and died 42 days after a TKO loss to Vince Libari at a "Renegades Extreme Fighting" event in October 2007.
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