The death of recent Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship opponent
Justin
Thornton hit Dillon
Cleckler hard.
Clecker, who had built a relationship with Thornton over the years
after their MMA bout under the Island Fights banner in 2013,
released a statement
on his Facebook page reacting to his friend’s passing. An
“absolutely devastated” Cleckler said that Thornton ultimately died
due to pneumonia.
“As a fighter nothing prepares you for the news I received this
morning on my way to training. Some of you may not of heard yet but
my last opponent Justin Thornton passed away last night due to
pneumonia,” Cleckler wrote. “I can’t help but feel absolutely
devastated about this because I’ve known Justin for years. Not many
people know this but we fought 8 years ago and he told me right
away he wanted the rematch. I know that when he got the phone call
to finally get that rematch on a bigger stage he saw a huge
opportunity and took it. Justin is a warrior. It’s in his blood to
fight. He loved it. He fought anyone, anytime and anywhere and when
I didn’t have an opponent, he still jumped at the opportunity to
get in there with me again.
“Any man or woman who steps in the ring or the cage is special,
they take a risk [that] 99.99% of the world would never take and
sometimes I still don’t know why we do it, but Justin was a fighter
his entire life and deserves nothing but respect!! My thoughts and
prayers are with Justin
Thornton and his family at this time. RIP warrior.”
Thornton
died on Monday at 38 years old. He suffered a knockout loss to
Cleckler at a BKFC event in Biloxi, Miss., on Aug. 20. Thornton was
taken from the ring on a stretcher and had reportedly been
hospitalized since the fight. According to a Sept. 23 post
on Thornton’s Facebook page, he was paralyzed and place on a
ventilator with a tracheotomy.
Thornton compiled a 6-18 mark in MMA over the course of a
professional career that began in 2008. He entered the BKFC bout
vs. Cleckler on a five-bout MMA losing streak in which he was
finished by each of his opponents inside of a round — two via
knockout or technical knockout. Thornton previously faced Cleckler
at Island Fights 20 in 2013, losing via TKO in 65 seconds. Cleckler
owned an 11-1 MMA mark and was coming off a pair of knockout wins
in BKFC.