Shane Del Rosario Dies, A Great Loss for MMA

Shane Del Rosario, aged 30, died last night after being hospitalized two weeks ago for cardiac arrest. News of his death was prematurely tweeted on November 28th by UFC president Dana White.

RIP Shane Del Rosario pic.twitter.com/M0MzCKJgTK

— danawhite (@danawhite) November 28, 2013

Del Rosario, however, was then in fact still alive and continued to battle on for another two weeks in true fighting style until his final passing.

ESPN reports that: “Del Rosario, 30, was admitted to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, Calif., on Nov. 26 and put on life support. Doctors were able to resuscitate him in the emergency room, but he showed no sign of brain activity once admitted to the hospital’s coronary care unit.”

The UFC announced Shane’s death stating:

“The Ultimate Fighting Championship mourns the tragic loss of heavyweight competitor Shane Del Rosario, who has passed away at the age of 30. Del Rosario suffered a heart attack on Tuesday, Nov. 26 as a result of what doctors believe to be a congenital heart disorder, according to his manager Jason House.”

“The entire organization sends its deepest condolences to Shane’s family and friends.”

The heavyweight fighter weighed in at 246 pounds and stood at Six foot Three inches, a kickboxer and muay thai specialist. Entering the MMA arena in 2006, Shane appeared to be a force to be reckoned with, achieving 11 wins, three by way of submission and eight T/KOs. His UFC debut was to arrive in May 26th, 2012, at UFC 146 Dos Santos vs, Mir, against a worthy oppponent Stipe Miocic, but Rosario was not to emerge victorious. Miocic handed Rosario his first MMA loss with a TKO due to elbows. At the Ultimate Fighter 16 finale, Del Rosario faced a formidable opponent in Pat Barry and there too he was stopped in the second round, this time by TKO due to punches. This turned out to be the last fight for the young UFC fighter, as he pulled out of his upcoming fight at UFC 168, scheduled for Nov 28th, as a result of a rib injury in training. Shortly after Shane was hospitalized due to cardiac arrest.

The time of death is unknown as MMAjunkie reports a “Hoag Memorial representative saying hospital not authorized to release del Rosario’s time of death.”

Our thoughts are with Del Rosario’s family and friends as they go through this difficult time. The memories of Shane Del Rosario’s life and career live on.