Top facts about Justin Thornton, the BKFC fighter who died by knockout

As a former 38-year-old Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship fighter, he died on Monday, October 4 as a result of getting knocked out and then sustaining injuries during a bout that took place on August 20.

Reportedly after the passage of more than one month that he fought against Dillion Cleckler and was knocked out by him in the first round just when 19 seconds were elapsed from the start of the fight; he, unfortunately, died at a Gulfport, Mississippi hospital on Monday.

It is to be said that he was paralyzed owing to that nasty knockout, while as of Sept. 23, he was on a ventilator with a tracheotomy and IV drip.

Although it is not exactly clear the reason why his health status got deteriorated, Mississippi Athletic Commission Chairman, Jon Lewis announced that the death came when his loved ones were intended to get him into a spinal institute. Cleckler also stated on Tuesday that he died from pneumonia.

But what is apparently clear is his death was first announced by MMA ring announcer Christopher James and then was confirmed by Eric Kowal of My MMA News, who wrote the following on his Twitter account:

"Very sad news... Learning of the passing of Justin Thornton. Justin passed away this morning after battling through injuries and complications that occurred as a result of his latest bare-knuckle bout at BKFC 20 in August."

Top facts about Justin Thornton

Here you would go through

top facts about Justin Thornton.

Justin Thornton facts in brief

General information

• Full name

  : Justin Thornton

• Died

  : OCT 4, 2021

• Location

  : Natchez, Mississippi, United States

Physical status:

• Height

  : 6'1" (185.42 CM)

• Weight

  : 215 LBS (97.52 KG)

• Hair Color

  : Black

• Eye Color

  : Brown

• Body Type

  : Fit

Career Record 

• Wins

  : 4 TKO (67%), 2 Submissions (33%)

18

Losses

: 11 TKO (61%), 5 Submissions (28%), 2 Decisions (11%)

Personal information

• Sexual Orientation

  : Straight

• Nationality

  : American

• Net Worth

  : $147,965

• Marital Status

  : In a relationship

• Girlfriend

  : Amber Willard 

What happened in Justin Thornton's last fight?

In his last fight against Dillon Cleckler_which was a rematch of their 2013 fight that Cleckler won_ he was defeated one more time, being viscously knocked out by his opponent just at 18 seconds into the bout.

That is to say, while this was his debut match in the BKFC, first, he was landed face on the canvas with his opponent's right hand until he was knocked out brutally.

One of the most heart-wrenching top facts about Justin Thornton is that although it seemed to be a usual knockout, unfortunately, he fell in a diving motion and hit the top of his head first resulting in a neck compression so as to be incurred a spinal hematoma.

Being unconscious, he stayed down for several minutes until he was taken out of the cage on a stretcher and had been hospitalized since then as he underwent serious injuries to the end of losing his life in addition to his fight defeat.

As of September 23, it was posted on Justin Thornton social media account, Facebook that he hadn’t been able to move his arms and legs, needed assistance breathing, and also sustained an infection in his lungs and spinal cord.

Having said that, his on-off girlfriend Amber Willard had indicated that notwithstanding his injuries he had kept his spirits high, awake and joking.

It seemed that he was trying to regain some sensation, to make his loved ones think recovery was conceivable. Yet sadly his health declined for unconfirmed reasons.

Justin Thornton professional career

While he fought in the heavyweight division in a number of regional promotions, he had a career record of 6 wins and 18 losses.

As he mostly fought regional athletes, he had two fights against UFC fighters on his record, coping with Walt Harris and Chase Sherman.

Likewise, he encountered Dana White's Contender Series veterans Michael Lombardo and Austen Lane. In case you are interested to know more about UFC fights, you can look into Sportsmob's

.

One of the

top facts about Justin Thornton

is that his debut MMA fight took place in 2008, but he unlikely had not won a single MMA match since October 2016.

Precisely as saying, the last time he was defeated in an MMA fight, before his final match, came in less than a minute as he was beaten by MMA promoter Lex McMahon, who was competing as a pro for the first time in his career.

Moreover, as it was mentioned earlier, his final fight against Cleckler was a rematch, as his opponent previously had toppled him in 2013 under the Island Fights banner.

It is worth noting that, Cleckler is the one who had an MMA career record of 11 wins and 1 loss coupled with two knockout victories for BKFC while he came into the BKFC 20 fight against Thornton who was a lot lighter than him.

Justin Thornton personal life

Except for the fact that he was born on December 7, 1982, in the United States, there is not much information in regards to

Justin Thornton childhood

and family.

But undoubtedly whoever they are, they are going through a really rough time, mourning his death while they are yet to deliver any assertion in his end.

As far as top facts about

Justin Thornton personal life

is concerned, it seems that he was married to his girlfriend Amber Willard, but there are not so much data about her. Yet the MMA World has expressed their deepest condolence to her and his family.

At the same, as one of the most amazing top facts about Justin Thornton, we can suggest his outstanding sense of humour which has made him so beloved among his companion.

His being resilient and high spirited in those crippling times of his injury so as to show a sign of his recovery and rehabilitation, is a piece of tangible evidence of the fact that how a fun-loving and athletic personality he had when he was alive.

Justin Thornton net worth and social media

When it comes to top facts about

Justin Thornton net worth,

it merits a mention that although the exact amount of his net worth is still to be unknown, he probably was making thousands of dollars.

In accordance with the wayofmartailarts.com website in 2020, the average UFC fighter earned around $147,965. So now it is by far easier for you to estimate his net worth, but keep in mind that he was an experienced veteran fighter and as result, he might have earned something more than an average level.

Although it has been said that he had not that much activity on any social media accounts, as part of the

top facts about Justin Thornton,

it is notable to suggest that he was probably active on Facebook in as much as the sources of a few numbers of his images, had been linked to his Facebook account.

In the meantime, if any top facts about Justin Thornton social media would be taken into consideration, his fans and supporters activity sharing their sincere condolence and tribute is specifically noticeable.

Likewise, even his opponent, Dillon Cleckler, who was the cause of that crippling damage, posted on Instagram that he deemed Thornton as rather a friend.

He also expressed that how he feels absolutely devastated about his death stating the following terms: “Justin was a fighter his entire life and deserves nothing but respect!! My thoughts and prayers are with Justin Thornton and his family at this time. RIP warrior.”

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