Brazilian MMA fighter Alexandre Pereira Silva remains in coma two months after weight-cutting complicatio

MMA fighter Alexandre Pereira Silva continues to fight for his life in Brazil.

Silva was preparing to make his professional MMA debut at Shooto Brazil 80 in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 28 when he had complications while cutting weight and was rushed to a hospital on weigh-in day.

Silva’s father, Magno Pereira, spoke with MMA Fighting on Thursday and gave more details on his son’s current condition. Silva suffered multiple seizures while cutting weight and suffered a heart attack in the hospital, and has been in a coma for two months, Pereira said.

Photo courtesy of Magno Pereira

Silva was recently transferred to the Sao Francisco de Assis hospital in Rio de Janeiro.

According to Pereira, Silva suffered rhabdomyolysis, which caused internal bleeding, and he had a blood clot in the brain. Doctors told Pereira and his wife, Eliane Silva, that the MMA fighter would need a miracle to survive when he first arrived in the hospital.

Silva is currently battling an infection, Pereira said, and his organs that stopped working recently are now functioning again. There’s still a risk that Silva could go in a vegetative state. He remains in critical condition in the intensive-care unit.

Silva’s parents traveled from their hometown of Nanuque to Rio de Janeiro to watch him fight at Shooto Brazil 80, arriving on Jan. 27, and never returned to their hometown.

Nova Uniao leader and Shooto Brazil president Andre Pederneiras did not respond to several requests for comment.

Silva competed once in an amateur MMA bout, defeating Marcos Silva via majority decision at Shooto Brazil 73 in May 2017. His professional debut would be a rematch against Marcos Silva.

A week after the incident, on Feb. 3, Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission COO Cristiano Sampaio told MMA Fighting that Silva had yet to be licensed by the commission to compete.

“The athlete did all the pre-fight exams required by CABMMA, except the physical exam, the only one that wasn’t sent to the athletic commission,” Sampaio said at the time. “Since he didn’t give us this last exam, or the pre-weigh-in medical evaluation, and the actual weigh-in, he still wasn’t cleared/licensed for the fight. This exam, according to his team, was done on the day of the incident, but wasn’t sent to the commission.”