UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor (Photo : Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Reigning UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor offered his condolences to Joao Carvalho's family and team after his death on Monday evening. Carvalho fought Charlie Ward, McGregor's teammate, in an MMA event in Dublin Ireland.
McGregor was at cage side and was cheering for his teammate during the Total Extreme Fighting (TEF) event. Ward defeated Carvalho via a TKO in round 3 when the referee stopped the fight.
It was a regular stoppage in an MMA fight but tragedy struck after the Portuguese fighter was taken to a hospital. According to RTE Sports, he underwent emergency brain surgery and was in a critical condition for 48 hours.
His MMA coach, Vitor Nobrega, confirmed that Carvalho passed away on Monday at 9:35 p.m. He was just 28 years old and his family requested privacy during a very difficult time.
McGregor and Ward's head coach, John Kavanagh will be working with the Irish Amateur Pankration Association (IAPA) and TEF to know what exactly happened and create a timeline of events. TEF chief executive Cesar Silva has released a statement regarding the unfortunate incident, saying that the promotion will be supporting Carvalho's family.
The MMA community has given tributes and homages to the 28-year-old deceased fighter, as per The Daily Mail. One of them was McGregor who wrote a heartfelt message to Carvalho, his family, team and all MMA fans in a lengthy Facebook post.
The usual brash and cocky Irishman was at a loss for words as he doesn't know how to take a tragedy like this and can't understand why it happened. He added that it's easy for people to criticize what they do but they can all relate to Carvalho who "pursued his dream doing what he loved."
"My condolences go out to Joao's family and his team. Their man was a hell of a fighter and will be sorely missed by all. Combat sport is a crazy game and with the recent incident in boxing and now this in MMA, it is a sad time to be a fighter and a fight fan," McGregor wrote.
The 27-year-old is hoping the MMA fans will remember Carvalho as a champion who deserves all the respect. McGregor finished his post with the words, "Rest in peace, Joao."
You can watch the final moments of the fight between Ward and Carvalho in the video below.
