Camacho (white trunks) famously knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard in 1997. Leonard retired after the fight.

Puerto Rican boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho, famous for his aggressive style and flamboyant behavior in and out of the ring, was declared dead earlier today in San Juan, four days after he and his friend were shot in a parked car in the city of Bayamon. Hector Camacho, who was taken off of life support earlier this morning, died of a heart attack shortly afterwards, according to Dr. Ernesto Torres of the Centro Médico trauma center. His friend, Adrian Mojica Moreno, died immediately.

Details regarding the shooting are still being kept quiet. However, police have confirmed that Mojica had nine bags of cocaine on him when he was shot and that a tenth bag was found open in the car. No arrests have been made, and according to police spokesman Alex Diaz, neither man was expecting the attack.

Inside the ring, ‘Macho’ Camacho was one of the greatest to lace up the gloves. After winning three Golden Gloves titles as an amateur, he turned pro and quickly became a contender due to his aggressive, albeit cocky style of fighting. With Don King promoting him, Camacho would go on to win his first world title, the WBC Super Featherweight Championship, on Aug. 7, 1983. He would vacate the title to move up to lightweight two years later, capturing the WBC lightweight title by defeating Jose Luis Ramirez on August 10, 1985.

Sad news out of Brazil today, Potato Nation, as it has been reported that MMA legend Wanderlei Silva’s father, Holando Pinheiro da Silva, was killed in a car accident yesterday. Holando, who makes an appearance around the 1:20 mark of the above video that was shot just a few days ago, fully supported Wanderlei’s career as a mixed martial artist and claimed he was “bringing pride to all of Brazil.”

Badnewsfmcuritaba first broke the news, as translated by Google:

The father of MMA fighter Wanderlei Silva, Holando Pinheiro da Silva, died in a car accident this afternoon. The accident occurred in the region of Castro, where his father lived fighter. The body was taken to the Forensic Institute of Ponta Grossa, in the Campos Gerais region. According to relatives, Wanderlei Silva is in Las Vegas, United States, and was told of the accident by phone. The fighter comes to Paraná tomorrow.

After the jump: A tweet from Wanderlei regarding the news.

It really doesn’t seem like it’s been three years since the news of former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner’s sudden and tragic passing while out on a solo camping excursion to the desert west of Palo Verde, California sent shockwaves through the MMA community.

Tanner, who was open about his fights with alcohol abuse and his personal demons is said to have called his manager, John Hayner to let him know that his dirt bike had run out of gas a few miles from his camp and that his trip was going well besides the mishap. When he failed to answer calls from friends the next day, police were dispatched and after a brief aerial search, located Tanner’s camp and his remains a few miles away from his abandoned motorcycle.

Hayner told us at the time that the troubled 37-year-old had turned his life around thanks to a move to Oceanside and the rebirth of his career in the UFC where he recently re-signed. Tanner was hoping that the desert trip, which he planned for months and did hours of research for, would leave him feeling rejuvenated and ready to build on the mistakes he made in his last bout — a hard-fought split-decision loss to Kendall Grove at the TUF 7 finale that June.

“He was in a real positive state of mind, he wasn’t having any drinking problems or any of those types of problems. He was really feeling good about his life,” Hayner told CagePotato.com. Here was a famous UFC fighter who didn’t have enough food to eat at times. I’d call him just to make sure he had food in his fridge, but he never let it get him down. Starting over was kind of a theme in his life. He hardly ever lived in the same place more than six months,” Hayner said. “He moved out to Vegas and then found it too shallow for him, so he moved out to Oceanside and had a great place, he was learning to surf, and he was really enjoying his day-to-day life.”

Earlier today, those of you who have an account on Twitter may have noticed rumors of the death of professional wrestling great “Macho Man” Randy Savage.  Unfortunately, TMZ.com has since confirmed those rumors.  His brother, Lanny “The Genius” Poffo stated in an article published this morning, “…the wrestling legend suffered a heart attack while he was behind the wheel around 9:25 AM … and lost control of his vehicle.”  The vehicle drove across a concrete median into oncoming traffic before crashing into a tree.  Savage, who was 58 years old, is survived by his wife Lynn.  Lynn was also in the car but suffered only minor injuries.  According to the police, both passengers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the accident and alcohol was not a factor.

For those of you who don’t know (or are too cool to admit to knowing) who Randy Savage is, his bio on WWE.com sums it up pretty well: Few superstars were as dynamic as “Macho Man” Randy Savage.  His style – perfectly punctuated by his entrance music, “Pomp and Circumstance” – was only outshined by his performances in the ring, which led him to two WWE Championships, two World Heavyweight Championships and a 14-month reign as Intercontinental Champion. Other in-ring accomplishments of Randy Savage include being the 1987 King of the Ring, as well as 4x WCW World Heavyweight champion.

Mike Straka with Fox News Fight Game was at yesterday’s memorial for Tapout’s Charles “Mask” Lewis at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.  Well-known MMA figures like Lorenzo Fertitta, Joe Rogan, and Josh Barnett all spoke about what Mask meant to the sport, and TapouT’s Dan “Punkass” Caldwell urged that he be remembered for helping people. 

Whatever you think of the facepaint (and there’s even a glimpse of a photo of Mask without it, if you’re curious), you know you’ve lived some kind of life when they hold your memorial at a place with “cathedral” in its name.  RIP, buddy.

(Via RawVegas.tv)

Well, this is far less awkward than Wanderlei Silva’s advertisement/guided tour of his own gym, because this time around we have a native English speaker to help us make sense of what the hell’s happening.  Dave Farra is also crafty enough to use the tour of the facility as a ruse to ask Silva the hard questions, like, does he think GSP cheated?  ("He dominate the fight, he don’t need this, no?")  Does he want another shot at “Rampage” Jackson?  ("Of course.")  ‘Sup with the playground?  ("The kids need to have fun too, you know?")

I’m satisfied with those answers.  Although I am surprised to hear that Silva had a six-month training camp before the Jackson fight.  On one hand, that can’t be a good idea.  On the other hand, if only you could put Silva’s work ethic in B.J. Penn‘s body.

After the jump, Dana White talks more about the death of TapouT’s “Mask” and explains why the news hit Chuck Liddell especially hard.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

In a new tribute/report titled "The Man That Was ‘Mask’," Sherdog adds some backstory to the tragic death of TapouT founder Charles Lewis Jr. As it turns out, Lewis was as sober as Jeffrey Kirby was drunk, and the street-racing theory is probably off-base as well. Here’s what we know now:

A criminal trial for Kirby is tentatively scheduled for next month.

The L.A. Times provides some new information about the car accident that left TapouT’s Charles “Mask” Lewis dead, his fiancée in the hospital, and the other driver in police custody, and at the moment all signs point to street racing as the cause of the accident:

Police said the two cars appeared to have been traveling side by side at a high rate of speed at 12:57 a.m. on Jamboree Road near the Upper Newport Bay when they collided. Officers said they are investigating whether the drivers were racing.

The Porsche driver, identified as Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa, was arrested after allegedly abandoning his car on a side street near the collision and taking off on foot with his female passenger. Kirby is being held on suspicion of felony drunk driving and driving under the influence. Bail is set at $2 million.

It’s still too early to say if it was really an ill-advised street race that killed the TapouT co-founder, but when two high-performing sports cars traveling side-by-side on a long, straight road at 1 a.m. ends with a high-speed fatal accident, that’s often the cause.  That, or maybe some type of road rage incident, which isn’t any better.  From the sounds of things the driver of the Porsche, Jeffrey David Kirby, has had his share of vehicular problems:

(Props: KingAtRock1)

Okay, this is pretty sweet.  Video highlight-maker KingAtRock1 has put together a look at the five best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA.  Sure, you could say he whitewashes Urijah Faber’s recent history in the cage, but overall it’s a solid list and I had a good time watching it.  Just good, clean fun.

I was just flipping through this month’s copy of Fight! Magazine, which features a photo spread on the UFC’s newest Octagon girl, Logan Stanton, and then lo and behold here’s Yahoo’s Steve Cofield doing a video interview with her at the Arnold Classic.  You have to admit Logan’s pretty damn adorable, and her dorky, "Revenge of the Nerds" laugh somehow only makes her more so.  Leave it to that classy son of a bitch Cofield to ask her if she’s going to get a boob job.  Nice, Steve.

After the jump, Frank Trigg remembers TapouT’s "Mask."

TapouT has released an official statement after losing their co-founder and friend, Charles Lewis, better known as "Mask."  Here it is, via their official website:

"It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we must regretfully confirm the passing of our beloved friend, brother and co-founder Charles "Mask" Lewis following a car accident that occurred last night. We are currently in the process of setting up a memorial service in his honor and will release more details as they become available. Many thanks to all for the outpouring of blessings and well-wishing during this incredibly difficult time." – The TapouT Family

Once again, our condolences to his family and friends.  Today MMA has lost a valued advocate and a patron.  He will be missed.

(Photo courtesy of thespec.com)

We really hope this isn’t true, but the chatter is not good. By now it’s been confirmed. From RingleaderFightNews:

Autopsies conducted by the Orange County Sheriff Coroner’s Office are leading authorities closer to ruling the deaths of the fighter and his wife a murder-suicide, with Levens as the suspected shooter.  A spokesman for the coroner described the fatal gunshot wounds to Sherdog.com, saying: “It was a chest wound that penetrated her heart and killed her and his was to the head.”

The two were found next to one another in their bed, with a gun found next to Levens’ body.  Autopsy results put the deaths at around four days ago.

In the Laguna-Niguel condo the Orange County Sheriff’s Department found prescription painkillers and anti-depressants, though the pills were not in the typical pharmaceutical containers.  

An AP report claims that police had visited the condo twice in the last month, once for a possible overdose.  An “anonymous source” tells NBC Sports that Levens was “never the same” after the suicide of IFL teammate Jeremy Williams in May of 2007.

Levens’ one-time agent, Ken Pavia, described him as having become “disenchanted with his career and the sport.”

No suicide note has been found.

(Photo courtesy of Spike)

Spike.com has posted the last blog entries from Evan Tanner before his death in the southern California desert two weeks ago. If nothing else, the sentiments expressed in his last entry should effectively put to rest any suicide rumors, such as those put forth by the always-idiotic War Machine. The night before Tanner leaves on his journey into the desert, he seems anything but suicidal:

It’s Tuesday night. Tomorrow I go out into the desert. It has taken over a month to get all the gear together. The preparation for this adventure took far longer than I had expected. I’ve never done this before, so I took my time reading books, studying the land, and researching gear. A few weeks of solitude in the deep desert, and then back to civilization, and back to training.

Clearly, that’s a man who planned on coming back. The MMA world remains saddened that he didn’t.

As a reminder, a memorial service for Tanner is planned for this Saturday, Sept. 27 at 2 pm in the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas, for those of you who might be in the area and are interested in paying your respects. When they hold your memorial at a civic center, you know you’ve had an impact on people.

Friends and associates of deceased UFC fighter Evan Tanner have set up a tribute site at EvanTanner.net where fans can post comments and share stories. His manager, John Hayner, encourages people who want to do something in remembrance of him to do so “by doing something unexpectedly nice for someone who is in need.”

Over at Fightlinker they’ve posted an account of a time when Tanner himself did just that. They also spent the day reposting all their old Tanner stories, an exercise meant to highlight the good and the bad about him rather than whitewashing his troubles and his missteps. If you haven’t checked it out, it’s worth a read.

Judging by the outpouring of sadness and support on the tribute site and in our comments section today, it’s safe to say that Tanner made a lasting impact on a lot of people, in no small part because of his vulnerability and generosity, even at his lowest points.

Driving Force Sports, owned by Evan Tanner’s manager, John Hayner, has issued this statement on Tanner’s death:

San Clemente, CA—September 8, 2008—The death of UFC fighter Evan Tanner, of Oceanside, California, has left the Driving Force Sports family heartbroken tonight.

News that the body of a man found in the desert of the Palo Verde Valley is that of Evan rippled through the fight community late Monday afternoon.

Lt. George Moreno of the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department has reported that Evan set out treasure hunting on Wednesday, September 3rd, asking friends to call for help if he didn’t return right away. Lt. Moreno says friends called the Sheriff’s Office on Friday, and search and rescue teams looked for him throughout the weekend in temperatures up to 114 degrees. Lt. Moreno says the U.S. Marines used a helicopter to search by air this morning, finally spotting a body two miles from the campground where Evan’s belongings were found earlier. While a coroner has yet to confirm the body is Evan’s, the owner at the management agency Driving Force Sports in San Clemente says people close to Evan visually identified his body at the scene.

“Evan was a dear friend to us and an important part of the DFS family,” says Driving Force Sports owner John Hayner. “He was so much more than a fighter. He was an individual we appreciated and cared a lot about. He marched to a drum only he could hear, and he was happy with that—so were we and so were his fans. He worked so hard to get fans more involved in the industry and be a part of his team. He was the kind of guy who kept on trying every day to improve…not just in fighting but in his life as a whole.”

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The coroner’s report from GracieMag.com:

A little over two months since the death of Ryan Gracie, on December 15, the first toxicology report on the black belt’s death was released yesterday by the program Fantastico, on Brazilian television. According to the program, the document stated that Ryan’s death was not of natural causes. Listed in the report, therapeutic doses of the medicines midasolan, alprazolan, prometazina, clozapina, haloperidol and the fighter had already used intoxicating substances. Based on analysis of the report, the authorities will determine what caused Ryan Gracie’s death. Cardiorespiratory failure seems to be the most probable cause.

Interpreted: the Gracies’ personal psychiatrist killed Ryan when he visited him in the big house. R.I.P.

And let us take this opportunity to mention Kyra Gracie again.