Veteran Heavyweight Kimo Leopoldo Not Dead
Contrary to previous reports and rumors, Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole tweets that Kimo Leopoldo has not died:
“Kimo Leopoldo is NOT DEAD, I’ve been told by his attorney. More details to folo.”
“Just spoke to his attorney a few minutes ago. He suggested I call his mgr, whose voice mail is full. Attorney says hes alive”
“From what I’ve been told, and this is not finalized, Kimo will hold a conference call tomorrow.”
“Also, from Kimo’s publicist, apparently he was sleeping and woke up to learn of reports of his death.”
Our original article on the reported death of Leopoldo is below:
Retired heavyweight veteran Kimo Leopoldo, who competed in a variety of promotions including the UFC and PRIDE after beginning his MMA career in 1994 at UFC 3, has reportedly passed away at age 41 due to a heart attack, according to multiple reports, though his death has not yet been officially confirmed.
Suspended twice during his career for testing positive for steroids, Kimo was in the news recently for campaigning to be executive director of the California State Athletic Commission and his arrest for possession of marijuana in February.
Leopoldo, whose last fight was an October 2006 loss to Web Sims, ended his career with a 10-7-1 record.
Tags: Kimo Leopoldo
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sad man
R.I.P
dude he was only 41. I saw him fight gracie when i was a kid. He was sick back then. R.I.P
he was awesome imo, and its sad to see him pass. R.I.P. Kimo
Has this been confirmed yet i know MMA Bay ran the story earlier but knowing how reliable they are i didn’t think too much of it.
If true it is a sad end to a true warrior
A lot of MMA sites and a couple less than well known gossip sites have run it, but other that it is still “unconfirmed”.
RIP kimo… above or below make sure you beat on some souls
R.i.p kimo u will be missed it is sad but see what happends when u take steriods kids
2009 has been a very sad year so far.
RIP
Just heard it on Colin Cowherds radio show. It was from a meth overdose.
I hope this major douche Colin Cowherds earns a lot of money from disreputing legends.
In spite of his personal demons, Kimo Leopoldo was a pioneer of this sport, and should be remembered and regarded by the MMA community as such, and not by reports and incidents of PED and recreational drug use.
It took a lot of guts to climb into the cage back in the day with guys like Royce Grace, Dan Severn, Tank Abbott, and Ken Shamrock [twice]. Kimo even took a fight in Japan with Scott Bigelow, an accomplished high school and professional wrestler who outweighed him by reportedly more than 150 pounds. In New Jersey Bigelow had a particular reputation for violence, truck-stop throwdowns, and for supplementing his income by bounty hunting and bodyguarding.
Kimo submitted Bigelow in the first round.
And this was back when names like Abbott and Shamrock really carried MMA weight, and weren’t the punchlines to bad jokes.
Only 2 of Kimo’s 18 fights went to a decision, as the guy was a real finisher, and in true 1990’s shoot-fighter fashion, 80% of his wins came by submission.
Was Kimo perfect?
No, far from it, but he did his best when he stepped into the cage, or ring, as the case may be.
I hope he finds himself in a better place…
couldnt have said it better myself
R.I.P BOSS
God I remember to when I was in my young teens watching Royce grace pulling his hair from the bottom thinking god his scalps going to come off hard, hard man.
again BRO R.I.P
R.I.P we’ll miss ya man
well i guess we’ll miss ya when you do die
I’ve read a couple of places that this is a hoax. Haven’t read this on a reputable site yet. Don’t be too sure yet.
It looks like it may very well be a hoax or at the very lest a major miscommunication. See the update above for more.
I guess this is as good a place as any to post the ubiquitous “WTF?!”
wow dude it was a hoax. that’s dumb dude
Was this a publicity thing? Maybe he’s coming back for a rematch with Ken Shamrock???
TMZ even said it was “confirmed”, do not trust what you read in any outlet anymore, it is all about who is first to say something especially if it keeps people on your site, it is not about reporting relevant information relating to something that actually happened. TMZ removes it without apology or any comment either, low lifes.
Good to hear he’s ok!