The owner of Eventmed, the company who oversaw medical treatment at the fight night at the National Stadium on Saturday, has said the correct post-fight medical protocol was observed.
Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho died in Beaumont Hospital last night, 48 hours after being rushed from the stadium after his defeat by Charlie Ward.
“The doctors checked him between each round and each time he gave a full response to them,” Katarzyna Michlic told SevereMMA.com.
“He responded to each question and all of his answers were perfect. When the referee stopped the fight in the third round, our team of doctors and medics looked after him as he was bleeding quite heavily from his nose.
“He was asked if he felt any pain or was suffering with any headaches directly after the fight, and he said he had no pain or headaches, but he did feel quite tired.”
However the fighter deteriorated rapidly while being looked over in the medical room at the event and he was rushed to hospital, where he died last night.
Michlic said: “He started complaining that he was suffering from headaches. He felt a lot of nausea and he began to vomit.
“Five minutes later he was significantly worse so we got him into the ambulance and rang the hospital to let them know he was coming.”
Carvalho’s death was confirmed this morning by the Team Nobrega facebook page.
Carvalho’s opponent Charlie Ward was an Irish fighter who was a member of the Straight Blast Gym (SBG) and a teammate of Conor McGregor.
SBG coach John Kavanagh released a statement this afternoon.
It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho. On Saturday, April 9, the... https://t.co/CPwXh7lZbz
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) April 12, 2016
“It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of Portuguese fighter Joao Carvalho,” he wrote.
“On Saturday, April 9, the fighter suffered a medical issue following his three round TKO stoppage loss at a Total Extreme Fighting (TEF) Championship event at the National Stadium in Dublin Ireland.
“IAPA is working diligently with TEF to gather and evaluate all relevant facts and event processes and will participate in any investigation.
“Our condolences and thoughts, though, are with Joao’s family and friends and we kindly ask everyone to respect their privacy at this time.”
