Deceased MMA Fighter Kimbo Slice Was in Need of Heart Transplant

MMA star Kimbo Slice aka Kevin Ferguson, who raised himself up via YouTube clips before fighting professionally with UFC and Bellator died of an earlier-diagnosed heart failure, new reports from the Broward Country medical examiner said. He died of congestive heart failure and a liver mass, and was on a ventilator after being admitted to the Northwest Medical Center in Margate. Doctors had planned to transfer him to a Cleveland hospital to be placed on an organ donor list for a heart transplant.

According to the report, the heart failure was not due to any illicit drug use, trauma, or foul play, though Slice tested positive for a steroid called nandrolone in February after a fight with Dhafir “DaDa 5000” Harris.

Slice’s death has been universally mourned by the Mixed Martial Arts community, including his former opponents, his training partners, and fans.

“We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating and untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family,” Bellator president Scott Coker said in a statement Monday night, as reported by the Sun-Sentinel.

Slice is survived by six children and a wife, and one of his sons, also Kevin Ferguson, has also recently begun an MMA career.