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02/12/2007
According to MMA websites The Fight Network and txmma.com, MMA athlete Sam Vasquez of Houston died this weekend from injuries sustained in an MMA bout a few weeks ago. The exact cause of death was not released but Vasquez was known to be battling for his life since taking a hard right to the chin from Vince Libardi on October 20th. The fight was part of a Renegades Extreme Fighting show in Houston. The blow knocked Vasquez out and he was rushed to a local hospital, where he stayed until moving to hospice care on Monday. About two weeks after the injury, he underwent the first of two surgeries to relieve the pressure of a blood clot in his brain, but he had a massive stroke on Nov. 9 and was placed in a medically induced coma. Including the fatal loss, Vasquez was 1-2 as an MMA fighter. Vasquez is believed to be the second MMA fighter in the history of the sport to die from ring injuries (Douglas Dedge died on March 18, 1998, from severe brain injuries suffered in a match at the World Super Challenge in Russia). Boxingtalk sends its sympathies to Vasquez's friends and family, which includes a wife and a seven-year old son. --Scott Shaffer
