Shane del Rosario

Shane Kalani del Rosario (September 23, 1983 – December 9, 2013) was an American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Heavyweight division, Strikeforce, M-1 Global, ShoXC, and King of the Cage. He held the distinction of being the first American to become the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.

Early life

Del Rosario was born and raised in Orange County, California, and was of Norwegian and Hawaiian descent. He started training as a fighter at the age of 17 with Marco Ruas. Del Rosario then attended and graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in psychology out of UC Irvine.

Kickboxing career

Del Rosario competed as a Heavyweight in Muay Thai on the World Championship Kickboxing series of kickboxing events and In Sync Productions Inc.

On November 9, 2006, Shane Del Rosario fought Tyler Grear. After surviving a spinning backfist that stunned him in round one, Del Rosario dropped Grear with a power punch early in round two. Grear could not beat the referee's 10-count as Del Rosario was declared the winner by knockout at 16 seconds of the second round.^[2]

After defeating Justin Carver by first round knockout on January 11, 2007, Shane then fought reigning WBC Muay Thai International Heavyweight Champion Ricardo van den Bos for the vacant WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rosario dominated van den Bos throughout the majority of the bout. After dropping van den Bos twice in round number two, Del Rosario landed a knee that finished Ricardo van den Bos at the last second of the round. He was then declared the winner by knockout at 3:00 of round two and the new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion. He would also become the first American to have won the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight title.^[3]

Del Rosario's first career loss came in his first title defense against Dutch kickboxer Ginty Vrede. Going into the bout as the fan favorite, he appeared to hurt Vrede in the opening round. Vrede came back with a powerful hook that stunned del Rosario and forced a standing eight-count by referee Steve Mazzagatti. After beating the count, del Rosario was dropped by an immediate high kick. The referee stopped the fight at 2:24 of the first round and declared Vrede the new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.^[4]

Following Vrede's death, the WBC World Heavyweight Championship was vacated. Del Rosario then knocked out Mexican kickboxer Ricardo Romero at 1:20 in the second round on July 26, 2008 to win the title for a second time.^[5]

Mixed martial arts career

Shane del Rosario transitioned into mixed martial arts in 2006 when he made his debut for mixed martial arts promotion King of the Cage. He then competed for notable promotions including EliteXC, M-1 Global and Strikeforce.

Strikeforce

Shane del Rosario defeated Brandon Cash in his Strikeforce debut. He was expected to face Bobby Lashley at Strikeforce: Miami, but the bout never materialized. He was then expected to meet Ron Sparks at Strikeforce: Los Angeles on June 16, but that bout also never happened. Shane won against Lolohea Mahe by way of TKO on July 23, 2010 at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe.^[6] After the bout, Shane expressed his desire to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.^[7]

On February 12, 2011, Del Rosario competed in an alternate bout for Strikeforce's World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament. He faced Lavar Johnson and won the bout with an armbar submission in the closing minute of the first round to earn the first reserve spot in the tournament.

He was to face Daniel Cormier at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum, but was involved in a car accident in which a drunk woman hit his car from the back. As a result from the accident, he suffered a herniated disc which kept him from training as well as forcing him to withdraw from the bout.^[8]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Del Rosario’s manager Jason House announced that he had signed to the UFC to compete in the Heavyweight division, starting in 2012.^[9]

Del Rosario was expected to face Gabriel Gonzaga on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146.^[10] Due to Alistair Overeem testing positive for high levels of testosterone, Frank Mir replaced him for the title shot which promoted Antonio Silva to fight for the co-main event against Cain Velasquez. The move left Roy Nelson with no opponent, which prompted the UFC to let him face former title contender Gonzaga^[11] while del Rosario faced Stipe Miocic.^[12] del Rosario was defeated in the second round by TKO, giving him his first professional MMA career loss.

Del Rosario faced Pat Barry at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale.^[13] He lost the fight by knockout at 0:26 of the second round. Afterwards, Del Rosario was expected to face Dave Herman on July 6, 2013 at UFC 162, ^[14] but was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Gabriel Gonzaga. ^[15]

Del Rosario was to face Guto Inocente on December 28, 2013 at UFC 168.^[16] Del Rosario pulled out of the bout in October citing a rib injury. ^[17]

Cardiac arrest and death

On November 26, 2013, del Rosario was hospitalized at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California after suffering full cardiac arrest following two heart attacks.^[18] According to Del Rosario's manager, Jason House, in a statement to Sherdog.com, del Rosario suffered a catastrophic cardiovascular collapse at home and was rushed to the hospital, where he was resuscitated in the emergency room back to a stable heart rhythm and blood pressure. According to Erik Apple, a training partner who had known del Rosario since they were in high school, del Rosario's liver and kidneys were not functioning and that he had been put on dialysis. Del Rosario had no prior health issues with his heart, although doctors now believe he may have had a rare heart condition called long QT syndrome.

ESPN reported del Rosario had died on November 28,^[19] and this was repeated in various outlets. The credited author denied having written the story,^[20] and later reported del Rosario alive, though without brain activity.^[21]

On November 30, del Rosario was taken off life support and breathing on his own. He also registered brain activity and squeezed his mother’s hand.^[22] Despite the improvements in his condition, del Rosario died on December 9, 2013.^[23][24]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

• Strikeforce
  • Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament Reserve

Kickboxing

• World Boxing Council Muaythai
  • 2008 WBC Muaythai World Heavyweight Championship
  • 2007 WBC Muaythai World Heavyweight Championship

Mixed martial arts record

Kickboxing record (Incomplete)

Kickboxing record

8 win (8 (T)KO's), 1 loss Result Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Win Raul Romero KO World Championship Kickboxing: Full Rules Muay Thai 02008-07-26July 26, 2008 2 1:20 Las Vegas, Nevada Won vacant WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Championship. Loss Ginty Vrede TKO (Left hook) World Championship Kickboxing: Full Rules Muay Thai 02008-01-12January 12, 2008 1 2:24 Las Vegas, Nevada Lost WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Championship. Win Ricardo van den Bos KO (Knee) World Championship Kickboxing: Full Rules Muay Thai 02007-09-08September 8, 2007 2 3:00 Gardena, California Won vacant WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Championship. Win Justin Carver KO (Punch) World Championship Kickboxing: Full Rules Muay Thai 02007-01-11January 11, 2007 1 1:58 Highland, California Win Tyler Grear KO World Championship Kickboxing: Full Rules Muay Thai 02006-11-09November 9, 2006 2 0:16 Highland, California Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

See also

• List of current UFC fighters

References

External links

• Shane del Rosario at the Internet Movie Database
• Professional MMA record for Shane del Rosario from Sherdog
• Shane del Rosario on UFC.com