UFC supremo Dana White has revealed his safety concerns about the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and says he wasn't 'shocked' to hear of a death in the sport this week.
American Justin Thornton, 38, died in hospital this week, six weeks after a brutal 19-second knockout which left him on a ventilator in hospital.
While White was saddened to hear the news, he admits it didn't come as a surprise given the lacklustre safety of the sport.
Justin Thornton has died six weeks after he was brutally knocked out in a bare-knuckle fight
According to his Facebook page, where a GoFundMe was set up shortly after the fight, Thornton was taken straight to hospital and was partially paralyzed and put on a ventilator
Dana White has admitted he is not shocked to see that a bare-knuckle fighter has died
'First of all, is anybody shocked?' he said. 'I mean, in bare-knuckle fighting? I'm not a big fan. And I get, I guess I would call it concerned, when I see some of our people when they leave here and go there. It's like, oh my God.'
The likes of Paige VanZant, Rachael Ostovich and Chad Mendes have all moved across from the UFC into bare-knuckle fighting, a sport which has risen dramatically in popularity over the past few years.
Since the news of Thornton's death on Tuesday, questions have been raised over the matchmaking in the GBFC, with many insisting a fighter with a 6-18 record should not have come up against Dillon Cleckler, who is 10-1 in MMA and unbeaten since 2015. Cleckler had also previously knocked Thornton out.
The veteran fighter, who succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of the KO, and
