Heart attack caused Chinese MMA fighter Yang Jianbing’s death ahead of Philippines bout

Philippine authorities have said a heart attack caused the death of Chinese mixed martial arts fighter Yang Jianbing, who collapsed a day before a Manila bout, fight organisers said Wednesday.

“The official autopsy report administered by the Republic of The Philippines ... has determined the cause of death for mixed martial arts athlete and One Championship flyweight Yang Jianbing to be from an acute myocardial infarction,” One Championship said in a statement on the organisation’s website.

One Championship earlier reported the 21-year-old had collapsed and was taken to a Manila hospital on December 10 as he suffered severe dehydration from attempting to make the weight limit for his December 11 fight.

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A Filipino medical legal officer performed the autopsy on December 12 to determine the cause and manner of death, which was found to be acute myocardial infarction, the organisation said, using the medical term for heart attack.

A private vigil was held in Manila for Yang’s family and friends and his body has been repatriated to China, it added.

“Yang Jianbing’s passing has been and extremely sad and painful time for me and the entire MMA community. My thoughts are with Yang’s family, friends and fans around the world,” One Championship chief executive Victor Cui said.

In the last message posted on his Weibo social media site on November 30, Yang had been upbeat about the fight.