‘Exhausted’ MMA fighter from Sutton dies after bout
`I don't even think he had a scratch on him'
A mixed martial arts fighter from Sutton did not have “a scratch on him” when he died after a fight last weekend, according to a trainer who watched the bout.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz’s office identified the fighter as Rondel Clark, 26, who competed in Cage Titans XXXV at Plymouth Memorial Hall on Saturday. Police are investigating.
“He was never knocked out. He was exhausted and the ref stopped the fight,” said Mark DellaGrotte, a longtime MMA trainer out of Somerville who teaches classes at the gym where Clark trained — Integrated MMA in Westboro. “There was no head trauma, there was no body damage taken on his behalf whatsoever. He simply was exhausted and could not continue to fight. I don’t even think he had a scratch on him.”
DellaGrotte said the ref declared the fight a TKO after Clark was exhausted and his opponent, who was also exhausted, was on top of him landing ineffective punches.
Cruz’s office said in a statement: “The match was stopped after approximately two minutes into the third round and ruled a technical knockout. Post-fight examination of Clark resulted in his being transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.”
Clark died at the Boston hospital yesterday. His family requested privacy, and declined to comment.
DellaGrotte said he was told by Clark’s trainers that Clark had no issues making weight before the fight, but that he experienced kidney failure at the hospital. Prior to the fight, DellaGrotte said Clark was in a good mood as he prepared to get into the ring.
“He was laughing, he was joking upstairs when he was warming up,” DellaGrotte said. “He was in good spirits, he was jovial ... There was absolutely no indication that this should have happened. None of it makes sense.”
He said the state athletic commission cleared Clark before the fight, meaning he passed his medical exams, passed his physical, had vitals tested and they were fine. The state fight commission requires two doctors and two EMTs at fights.
DellaGrotte said it was clear something was wrong with Clark after the fight was called. He said the fighter was taken from the ring on a backboard, first to Jordan Hospital and then Beth Israel. No one expected anything worse than he was dehydrated and might need an IV, he said.
“Everybody was just completely baffled that this happened,” DellaGrotte said. “It blindsided everybody. He was fine right before the fight. We need to prevent this from ever happening again. We need to know, as professionals in this sport, for the safety of this sport, we need to know why this happened and how we can prevent it in the future.”