CFU fighter Cameron Smotherman spoke out after a scary moment during the UFC 324 pre-fight weigh-in, where he collapsed live on stage.
“I’ve obviously gotten a lot of messages and I appreciate all the genuine concerns about me,” Smotherman, 28, told fans. via Instagram on Friday January 23. “I’m totally fine. I’m fine. I’m not entirely sure what happened.”
Smotherman had just stepped off the scale during a live-streamed event Friday morning when he collapsed and landed face-first on the stage. UFC Announcers Laura Sanko And Daniel Cormier were visibly stunned as they expressed concern for the fighter’s well-being.
“Oh no, oh no. It’s not good,” Cormier admitted to viewers, with a colleague interjecting: “This is the first time I’ve seen this.”
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As live UFC coverage fades from the scene, Addicted to MMA released alarming footage shot inside the Nevada venue as trainers and trainers rushed to check on Smotherman. Several officials were heard calling for a doctor while others helped Smotherman back to a sitting position.
A doctor checked Smotherman’s vital signs on stage and encouraged him to drink fluids before the fighter was helped to his feet. When Smotherman again appeared groggy and visibly wobbly on stage, two officials physically picked him up and carried him backstage.
Smotherman seemed in much better spirits a few hours later. In his Instagram video, he tried to downplay theories that his collapse may have been triggered by extreme weight loss preceding Saturday’s bantamweight fight.
“Internet users say it was ‘crazy weight cuts’ [for the fight]stuff like that,” he admitted. “I really didn’t lose a lot of weight for this fight. I arrived quite low but even [through] During this week I didn’t lose much weight.
The MMA fighter admitted: “I’m not entirely sure what happened and I still have some tests and stuff to go through in the coming weeks to get to the bottom of it. For all the people saying I must have done something crazy. [weight] cut or something like that, I cut very, very little weight.
Smotherman predicted that he “hopefully comes back soon” because he felt “completely fine.” He later apologized to his intended opponent, Ricky Turciosfor the cancellation of their fight at UFC 324.
MMA fight buddy Kody Steele responded to Smotherman’s health update with some encouragement, writing, “I’m glad you’re doing well bro.”
UFC Veteran Matt Quick praised Smotherman as a “champion” while he was a mixed martial artist Alex Perez shared a “prayer hands emoji” in the comments.
“I hope you heal well, can’t wait to see you back there,” one fan wrote to Smotherman, with another commenter, “I thought you wouldn’t get back up bro, but you showed your character.”
The UFC has not yet clarified whether the Smotherman-Turcios match will be rescheduled for a later date.
The Smotherman-Turcios match was scheduled to take place on the undercard of an event headlined by Justin slave against Paddy Pimblett in an interim UFC lightweight champion contest. Paramount+ aired live coverage of UFC 234 on Saturday from T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Smotherman is known professionally as “The Baby-Faced Killa” and is considered a rising star in the MMA world. He has already competed in Dana White’s Contender Series in a bantamweight fight in August 2023 against Charalampos Grigoriou, where he lost by TKO in less than a minute.
The fighter continued to earn his UFC Fight Night debut against Jake Hadley by unanimous decision in October 2024. Smotherman went into the now canceled fight with Turcios with a professional record of 12 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws.
