One Championship honored Yang Jianping after he died. (Photo : Facebook/ONE Championship)
Yang Jianping, a Chinese mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, died on Friday after collapsing from a severe case of dehydration in an attempt to meet the required weight for his flyweight match in the Philippines, as reported by Shanghai Daily.
One Championship, the organizer of the fight, said that the 21-year-old was proclaimed dead at a hospital in Manila due to cardiopulmonary failure on Friday, a few hours before the scheduled fight.
"Yang, a native of China, was hospitalized at the San Juan De Dios Hospital . . . after a sudden collapse on the morning of 10 December 2015," according to a statement released by One Championship on its website on Sunday.
The statement did not mention what exactly caused the collapse.
Yang's last fight was in June.
On Friday, Yang's fight with a Filipino flyweight had been cancelled "due to Yang's severe dehydration from attempting to make weight," added the statement.
Yang was said to have suffered from "dehydration and suspected heat stroke" and had been rushed to hospital for "intensive rehydration treatment."
To honor Yang, a one-minute silence was dedicated to him at the venue on Friday, said Loren Mack, a One Championship spokesperson.
The homepage of the One Championship website was partly blacked out on Friday. It contained the line: "In Loving Memory of Yang Jianping (1994-2015)."
"There is nothing more profoundly tragic and sad than when a member of the One Championship family, current or past, passes away," said Victor Cui, CEO of One Championship, on the website.
The event that Yang was scheduled to fight in was ONE: SPIRIT OF CHAMPIONS, which was held at the Mall of Asia Arena. He was matched against Geje "Gravity" Eusraquio.
