Karate Combat President Provides Update on James Vick After Terrifying Knockout Loss

Former UFC fighter James Vick witnessed one of the scariest knockouts in a combat sport you’ll ever see this past Friday night at Karate Combat 47.

Vick was knocked unconscious by a switchkick from Rafael Alves, capping off one of the most insane events in promotional history. Vick was unconscious for a while before being sent to the hospital, but reports began to circulate about how badly Vick was doing after that kick.

Karate Combat Chairman Asim Zaidi responded and provided clarity on the situation.

“I’ll tell you this: the event, this was supposed to be an event for our prospects, kind of a filler event, a smaller Karate Combat to set up our bigger shows,” Zaidi told MMA Fighting. “It went so well, and just everything about it was so exciting and perfect — even the whole fight, the choke incident was hilarious. The crowd was chanting, they were having a great time with it. Nobody got hurt. It was a very positive thing, everything was upbeat, and the moment James Vick got knocked out, I couldn’t be upbeat anymore.

“It was really disappointing because it was one of the most successful shows, sold out crowd, everyone cheering. I could have gone home and had a great night and celebrated a great event, but I couldn’t because I was heartbroken because it was such a bad knockout. It’s hard for me to watch the video. It’s really like watching the video of that knockout, it’s not easy to watch. I get goosebumps watching it, and it was just as bad as everything that was said.

“Yeah, he was knocked out, he was out for a while. We didn’t show it on the show, but he had a seizure. They took him to the ambulance, he needed help breathing, they put some tubes in to help him breathe. It’s hard for me to talk about it, you know, but thank God he recovered and he’s fine.”

Vick’s UFC run ended with four straight losses, including three knockouts at the hands of Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker and Niko Price, before being stopped by Andre Fialho in his first fight outside the octagon for XMMA. The 37-year-old transitioned to boxing, where he scored consecutive knockout victories, and then tried his hand in the Karate Combat pit, where he went 1-2 with all three fights going to the scorecards.

After 14 months out of the promotion, Vick returned and suffered the stunning knockout. Despite the aftermath and the terrifying nature of the situation, “President Awesome” says that when Vick regained consciousness and began talking about the fight, he seemed to have an idea of ​​how things were going as he put the pieces into place.

That’s all well and good, but Zaidi wouldn’t want Vick to ever compete again, be it Karate Combat or anywhere else.

“He woke up and I went to see him and the crazy thing is I was there when he woke up and he said, ‘Man, what did I mess up? What did he hit me with? And I said, ‘He hit you with a switch kick,'” Zaidi said. “He said, ‘Oh, he went low, then high,’ I said, ‘Yeah, one kick went to your leg, one to your head.’ He said, ‘Oh, I dropped my hands when I controlled the kick.’ He understood everything, man. So we’re talking about strategic mistakes right away when he woke up, which made me feel so much better and it showed how aware he is.

“Thank God he’s good now, he’s released, he’s home, and he can hopefully take a break and I wouldn’t want to see him in the pit again. … “I hate to say it and I don’t want to sound heartless, but I just can’t bring him back to Karate Combat, and I don’t think he should fight again. I hate to say that because he’s a warrior. But he’s got a great school, he’s coaching a lot, a lot of great talented young fighters. I think it’s time to say, hey, that’s my path and that’s what I’m going to follow, and he was successful, man. There was a time when he was 9-1 in the UFC. So he was a successful guy, and I think that part of his life is over and it’s time to focus on his great talents and the students that he has.”

Zaidi hopes Vick will serve as a coach and support for his fighters in the years to come and is also open to Vick being part of the Karate Combat broadcast team.

But when asked where Vick’s heart lay, Zaidi replied that there were no signs he wanted to leave the competition.

“He said the opposite,” Zaidi explained. “He actually said he wanted to come back. He even told one of the Karate Combat employees that he wanted to fight again. I didn’t even want to talk to him about it, and it’s just not going to happen. I just can’t allow it for his own safety and I think he has a great spirit in the sport and can find other great ways to be successful to create and continue his legacy.”