MMA fighter Leandro ‘Feijao’ Souza dies cutting weight

Tragedy has struck the MMA community in Brazil, as it was announced yesterday that Nova Uniao fighter, Leandro ‘Feijao’ Souza, died just prior to weighing in for his ‘Shooto 43’ flyweight bout against Gabriel Brasil.

The 26-year-old “Feijao” was suffering from complications with his weigh cut, according to teammate Andre Santos, who spoke with MMA Fighting:

“We don’t have much information yet. but we do know that is related to his weight cut. He’s my student but he also trains at Nova Uniao for about a year. I wasn’t with him during this process because I have a fight scheduled in Russia, so he spent the night at Nova Uniao’s gym. His sister called me saying that he had passed out so I went to the hospital, but he was already dead when I got there.”

Shooto 43 is promoted by André Pederneiras, head coach of Nova Uniao and trainer of UFC champions Jose Aldo and Renan Barao.

Pederneiras made the announcement on Thursday night through his official Facebook page:

“We are sad to report the death of Leandro Caetano de Souza. The athlete has passed away in Botafogo’s UPA. We don’t know the reasons why yet. We would like to express our condolences to all friends and family.”

Is it time for the sport of MMA to try and regulate weight cutting in some form? Let’s hear it Penn Nation!