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05th Oct 2016

Heartbreaking news as UFC fighter Josh Samman dies, aged 28

The sad news has been confirmed by his manager

Conan Doherty

Josh Samman has passed away, aged just 28.

The UFC fighter was found unresponsive in an apartment in Florida on Friday and has since been in a coma until he was declared dead in the hospital on Wednesday.

His manager Gary Ibarra confirmed the tragic news to FOX Sports.

Samman, a middleweight with a 12-5-0 record in the UFC, was discovered with announcer Troy Kirkingburg who was pronounced dead at the scene but it remains unclear how the pair passed away.

What isn’t in any doubt is the awful hole that his passing leaves. Samman was an affable character full of life and he took that energy and that fearlessness that he had into every bout, twice winning a UFC performance of the night bonus.

He already had one of the most crushing stories when his childhood sweetheart died in a car crash in 2013 whilst they were both texting one another.

After she passed, Samman, a native of Florida, spoke beautifully about his girlfriend:

“People say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, but I knew. I knew what I had when I had it.”

And the MMA world knew what they had when they had Samman. His passing has hit the community hard and tributes have piled in for the Ultimate Fighter 17 legend.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLLtMkRhxS5/?taken-by=gjsvictorymma

https://twitter.com/KidNate/status/783702335771910145

https://twitter.com/Itzxnate/status/783701843788476416

https://twitter.com/Patrick_Wyman/status/783694462149025792

Rest in peace, Josh.