Combat sports aren’t for everybody. It takes a special type of human being to be willing to step inside a cage, or a ring and go toe to toe with another human in a fight, knowing the inherent risk involved, and yet still willing to participate in the action. Unfortunately, the risk taken sometimes ends up with an athlete sustaining a serious, and possibly life-threatening injury, which is what happened last Friday night at BKFC 14.
Francesco Ricchi took on Noah Cutter in a bout contested in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 175lb division, and it was a banger. Cutter nearly ended the bout in the first round when he dropped Ricchi, who took every second of the referee’s count to regain his composure and stay in the fight.
In the second round Cutter once again came out swinging, but now Ricchi was able to find his jab and range unlike in the first round and put Cutter down and out before the end of the second round scoring the victory in a fight where many thought it was over in the first, which goes to show that nobody should ever be counted out until the fight is actually over.
Somewhere in the first round Cutter accidentally caught Ricchi in the throat with a punch, and while victorious in the fight, this punch caused an injury to Ricchi that nobody expected.
Ricchi is now hospitalized and has been placed in a medically induced coma as he is suffering from bleeding in his lungs which is the result of a hematoma on his trachea, which was injured from the accidentally landed punch from Cutter.
Cutter took to social media to express his thoughts and concerns for his fellow warrior.
Those of us that follow combat sports know that things like this due tend to happen, however, it doesn’t make it any easier, or lessen the impact of how we feel about it when it does. Those of us here at Cage Side with Christopher James and the entire combat sports community are keeping Ricchi and his family in our thoughts, and we here at #CSCJ will keep you updated with information as it becomes available.
UPDATE:9:02 p.m BKFC President David Feldman issued a statement to Damon Martin of @MMAFighting.com
“First and foremost our thoughts are with Francesco and his family at this time as we pray for a quick and full recovery,” Feldman stated. “The injury did not deter Francesco from a victorious result on Friday night but complications during the surgery at the hospital have resulted in a greater issue to his health.”
According to BKFC officials, Ricchi took a punch to his trachea, but he still managed to secure a third-round stoppage victory in the fight. Afterward, he was taken to a local hospital for an examination, which BKFC officials stated led to a surgery and complications during that procedure ultimately affected his overall medical condition. At this time, Ricchi remains hospitalized following his surgery.
Feldman also took to Facebook to share his feelings.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.