Portuguese MMA fighter Joao Carvalho has died from injuries sustained in his welterweight fight with Charlie Ward in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday.
The tragic news was confirmed by the fighter's Nobrega team on their Facebook page on Tuesday.
Per the Irish Independent, Carvalho was taken to the Beaumount Hospital after his TKO defeat to Ward in the Total Extreme Fighting event and had undergone a procedure on his brain, but he died from his injuries on Monday.
The report added that the 28-year-old "fell ill" 20 minutes after his fight finished at the National Stadium and relayed a statement from Total Extreme Fighting CEO Cesar Silva:
We extend our most sincere condolences to the family of Joao Carvalho’s and his teammates in Team Nobrega. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. We’d also like to thank all sports fans for their concern and support.
We will give whatever support we can to Joao’s family. We have been in contact with his family and they have requested that we all understand their need for privacy at this difficult time.
Irish MMA fighter Paul Redmond described the news as "absolutely heartbreaking" in his tribute to Carvalho:
Ward, a team-mate of Conor McGregor's at Ireland's Straight Blast Gym, shares the same coach in John Kavanagh, who was in Ward's corner on Saturday. Kavanagh previously said he was "devastated" to hear of Carvalho's injuries:
McGregor said after the fight that he thought it should have been stopped sooner, per MMA Connect TV (via BJPenn.com):
"My team-mate Charlie had a good win just there—hell of a fight. Yer man took some big shots. Thought it could have been stopped a little bit earlier. The referee’s need to be on the ball a little bit."
The Dublin bout was part of the Total Extreme Fighting organisation's inaugural event.
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