In update on Leandro Souza, the MMA fighter who died Thursday night, his teammate has come out and said that Souza was called in on short notice and had to lose 33 pounds in a week. Brazilian authorities are saying the cause of death was a stroke.
“It’s too early to say that he died because of the effort he was doing to lose weight. We need to check his medical records because it’s not normal to see a young kid like him suffering a stroke. IML is working to get more information so we can get in a conclusion, then we will start an investigation.”
Souza got his weight down to the point where he had just 11 pounds to go the day before the weigh in. He died minutes before his weigh in, two pounds short of his goal. Souza’s normal weight was around 160 pounds and he fought in the flyweight division which has a limit of 125 pounds
Brazil is known for shadiness when it comes to covering up this side of its MMA community, so hopefully an independent source can come up with a true cause of death.
H/T: MMA Fighting
