5 MMA Fighters Who Died In The Octagon

#3 Michael Kirkham:

The octagon can be a dangerous place for any fighter

When 30-year-old Michael Kirkham was announced to take part in a fight at the Dash Entertainment/King MMA 'Confrontation at the Convocation Centre', no one had expected that it would go the way that it did.

His opponent, Carlos Iraburo, took him down to the matt within seconds of his debut as a professional. He was hit on the back of the head several times by Iraburo before the referee stopped the fight only 41 seconds in. Unfortunately, Kirkham had lost consciousness and did not recover from the blows.

He would die two days after the fight, due to subarachnoid haemorrhage of the brain. There was speculation that Kirkham's last bout had also ended in TKO, and there had been issues lingering from that fight itself.