An Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event was marred by a frightening medical incident on Friday, January 23, when bantamweight fighter Cameron Smotherman collapsed face-first on stage moments after successfully making weight for his scheduled fight.
The 28-year-old fighter from Tennessee weighed in at 135.5 pounds on the day he fought on the UFC 324 pre-event card in Las Vegas to face Ricky Turcios in a welterweight battle scheduled for September 24.
Just seconds after getting off the scale to begin walking away from it, Smotherman appeared disoriented before falling to the ground.
His collapse immediately aroused concern among commentators and spectators. Following the incident, he was quickly evacuated from the platform by his team and staff.
He was later transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Due to his collapse, his fight against Turcios was officially removed from Saturday’s card.
It’s believed his collapse may have been due to dangerous weight-loss practices in which fighters often dehydrate themselves to lose a lot of weight.
Later, they rehydrate quickly after the official weigh-in.
There is no official update on Smotherman’s health from UFC officials yet.
