Kimbo Slice, the street brawler turned mixed martial arts star who died on Monday aged 42, had been diagnosed with heart failure and was awaiting a heart transplant.
Slice complained of severe abdominal pain, shortness of breath and nausea on Friday when he was admitted to Northwest Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, found to have a liver mass and placed on a ventilator in intensive care, according to a Broward County medical examiner’s report obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The report stated that Slice died at 7.30pm on Monday as doctors prepared to transfer him to a facility in Cleveland, where he would await a transplant on an organ donor list. It added that Slice had no history of illicit drug use and no foul play was suspected.
Slice was slated to headline a Bellator fight card in London next month against James Thompson.
The former football player and strip club bouncer became an online phenomenon competing in unsanctioned street fights during the early 2000s, parlaying his notoriety into a professional MMA career, including two in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the sport’s biggest promotion.
He last fought in the co-main event of Bellator 149 in Feburary, scoring a third-round knockout of Dhaffir ‘Dada 5000’ Harris that was subsequently changed to a no contest when Slice tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and was found to have an elevated TE ratio of 6.4/1.
