UFC middleweight Josh Samman passes away at age 28

One week after being found unresponsive in his South Florida home, the fighting world has lost Josh Samman

UFC middleweight Josh Samman, 28, has passed away in South Florida on Wednesday, October 5.

The Tallahassee Democrat confirmed the news after several posts from Samman’s friends and fellow fighters expressed condolences. This comes just one week after a friend found him unresponsive alongside roommate Troy Kirkingburg at their Hollywood Beach Gardens apartment.

When policed arrived, Samman was still breathing, but was not responding. Kirkingburg, an MMA announcer, was pronounced dead at the scene. Samman had remained in a coma since being found.

Samman (12-4) broke onto the MMA scene in 2007. He would go on to compile a record of 9-2 under various promotion in his home state of Florida before getting the call from the UFC to join the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Samman was eventually named the second pick by team coach Jon Jones.

While he didn’t make it to the final round of the tournament, the South Florida native scored an impressive second round TKO over Kevin Casey i the show finale, earning him a spot on the UFC roster.

From here, Samman would rattle of two more victories, including a thrilling come-from-behind headkick knockout over Eddie Gordon, before hitting a pair of speed bumps in his bouts against Tamdan McCrory and Tim Boetsch.

Samman was scheduled to return against Oluwale Bamgbose at UFC Fight Night 102 on Dec. 9 in Albany, N.Y.

The UFC previously released a statement to MMAFighting.com revealing they were aware of Samman’s conditioned and had been in touch with his team.

Outside of the Octagon, Samman ran the regional promotion Combat Night, which made headlines last September for celebrating 50th show and drawing 4,000 fans to the amateur show in Tallahasse, Florida.

Samman also released his memoir The Housekeeper: Love, Death and Prize Fighting, which revealed his struggle with substance abuse and the death of his girlfriend in 2013. Samman continued to write websites, including BloodyElbow and UFC.com.