Shane Kalani del Rosario (September 23, 1983 − November 28, 2013) was an American professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer currently competing in the UFC's Heavyweight division. He also has competed for Strikeforce, M-1 Global, ShoXC, and King of the Cage. He holds the distinction of being the first American to become the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.

Early life

Del Rosario was born and raised in Orange County, California and is of Norwegianand Hawaiian descent. He first started training as a fighter when he was 17 years old with Marco Ruas. Del Rosario then attended and graduated from college with abachelor's degree in psychology out of UC Irvine.

Kickboxing career

Del Rosario competed as a Heavyweight in Muay Thai on the World Championship Kickboxing series of kickboxing events and In Sync Productions Inc.

On November 9, 2006, Shane Del Rosario fought Tyler Grear. After surviving a spinning backfist that stunned him in round one, Del Rosario dropped Grear with a power punch early in round two. Grear could not beat the referee's 10-count as Del Rosario was declared the winner by knockout at 16 seconds of the second round.

After defeating Justin Carver by first round knockout on January 11, 2007, Shane then fought reigning WBC Muay Thai International Heavyweight Champion Ricardo van den Bos for the vacant WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rosario dominated van den Bos throughout the majority of the bout. After dropping van den Bos twice in round number two, Del Rosario landed a knee that finished Ricardo van den Bos at the last second of the round. He was then declared the winner by knockout at 3:00 of round two and the new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion. He would also become the first American to have won the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight title.

Del Rosario suffered his first career loss after being unsuccessful in his first title defense against Dutch kickboxer Ginty Vrede. Going into the bout undefeated and as the fan favorite, Shane appeared to have Vrede hurt in the opening round. Vrede came back and landed a powerful hook that stunned Del Rosario and enforced a standing eight-count by referee Steve Mazzagatti. After beating the standing eight-count, Del Rosario was dropped by an immediate high kick from Vrede. The referee stopped the fight as Ginty Vrede was declared the winner and new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion at 2:24 of the first round.

Following the tragic death of Ginty Vrede, the WBC World Heavyweight Championship was respectfully vacated. Shane then fought Mexican kickboxerRicardo Romero for the vacant WBC World Heavyweight Championship on July 26, 2008. Del Rosario dominated and defeated Romero by knockout at 1:20 in the second round to become the WBC World Heavyweight Champion for the second time.

Mixed martial arts career

Shane transitioned into mixed martial arts in 2006 when he made his debut for mixed martial arts promotion King of the Cage. Since then, Shane Del Rosario has competed for notable promotions such as EliteXC, M-1 Global, and Strikeforce.

Strikeforce

Shane del Rosario defeated Brandon Cash in his Strikeforce debut. He was expected to face Bobby Lashley at Strikeforce: Miami, but the bout never materialized. He was then expected to meet Ron Sparks at Strikeforce: Los Angeles on June 16, but that bout also never happened. Shane won against Lolohea Mahe by way of TKO on July 23, 2010 at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe.[5] After the bout, Shane expressed his desire to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

On February 12, 2011, Del Rosario competed in an alternate bout for Strikeforce's World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament. He faced Lavar Johnson and won the bout with an armbar submission in the closing minute of the first round to earn the first reserve spot in the tournament.

He was to face Daniel Cormier at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum, but was involved in a car accident in which a drunk woman hit his car from the back. As a result from the accident, he suffered a herniated disc which kept him from training as well as forcing him to withdraw from the bout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Del Rosario’s manager Jason House announced that he had signed to the UFC to compete in the Heavyweight division, starting in 2012.

Del Rosario was expected to face Gabriel Gonzaga on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146. Due to Alistair Overeem testing positive for high levels of testosterone, Frank Mir replaced him for the title shot which promoted Antonio Silva to fight for the co-main event against Cain Velasquez. The move left Roy Nelson with no opponent, which prompted the UFC to let him face former title contender Gonzaga while del Rosario faced Stipe Miocic. del Rosario was defeated in the second round by TKO, giving him his first professional MMA career loss.

Del Rosario faced Pat Barry at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale. He lost the fight by KO at 0:26 in the second round.

Del Rosario was expected to face Dave Herman on July 6, 2013 at UFC 162. But he was later forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Gabriel Gonzaga. 

Del Rosario was expected to face Guto Inocente on December 28, 2013 at UFC 168. However, del Rosario pulled out of the bout citing a rib injury.

Death

On November 26, 2013, del Rosario was hospitalized at the Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California in critical condition after suffering from full cardiac arrest after two heart attacks. Del Rosario's manger Jason House said in a statement to Sherdog.com that “Shane del Rosario had a catastrophic cardiovascular collapse at home on Tuesday morning,”. “He was brought to the hospital in full cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated in the emergency room back to a stable heart rhythm and blood pressure. He is currently in the coronary care unit critically ill. Our prayers are with him and his family.”

According to Erik Apple, a training partner who has known del Rosario since they were in high school, the fighter’s situation has improved since Tuesday.

“Yesterday [Tuesday] there was very little hope for him to even make it past that day,” Apple told Sherdog.com. “It was down to the point where his liver and kidneys weren’t functioning. He was on dialysis. They had to give him the maximum amount of medication that they can just so they could get his blood pressure at an acceptable level.

“Since then, he’s actually had some positive signs. No. 1, his kidneys are functioning...he doesn’t have any problems with his organs right now as far as I know,” Apple added. “Early this morning they began weaning him of off the blood pressure medication.”

According to Apple, del Rosario was found at home by his roommate, UFC flyweight Ian McCall. McCall called 911 and administered CPR to del Rosario before he was taken to the hospital. Apple says that del Rosario had no prior health issues with his heart.

“He had some response this morning. A nurse said he sort of readjusted himself and turned his head. To me that means his brain is coming back online. If he’s moving and having some kind of reaction those are all positive signs,” Apple said. UFC´s president Dana White has not come in public yet. Fans from Brazil are in shock with the loss of great mixed martial artist.

Despite the improvements in del Rosario’s condition, Apple said that the odds are still stacked against his longtime friend. According to his manager, Del Rosario died on November 28, 2013 after not being able to recover from the massive stroke.

***

Shane Kalani del Rosario (September 23, 1983 – December 9, 2013) was an American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He competed in theUltimate Fighting Championship's Heavyweight division, Strikeforce, M-1 Global,ShoXC, and King of the Cage. He held the distinction of being the first American to become the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.

Early life

Del Rosario was born and raised in Orange County, California, and was ofNorwegian and Hawaiian descent. He started training as a fighter at the age of 17 with Marco Ruas. Del Rosario then attended and graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in psychology out of UC Irvine.

Kickboxing career

Del Rosario competed as a Heavyweight in Muay Thai on the World Championship Kickboxing series of kickboxing events and In Sync Productions Inc.

On November 9, 2006, Shane Del Rosario fought Tyler Grear. After surviving a spinning backfist that stunned him in round one, Del Rosario dropped Grear with a power punch early in round two. Grear could not beat the referee's 10-count as Del Rosario was declared the winner by knockout at 16 seconds of the second round.

After defeating Justin Carver by first round knockout on January 11, 2007, Shane then fought reigning WBC Muay Thai International Heavyweight Champion Ricardo van den Bos for the vacant WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rosario dominated van den Bos throughout the majority of the bout. After dropping van den Bos twice in round number two, Del Rosario landed a knee that finished Ricardo van den Bos at the last second of the round. He was then declared the winner by knockout at 3:00 of round two and the new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion. He would also become the first American to have won the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight title.

Del Rosario's first career loss came in his first title defense against Dutch kickboxerGinty Vrede. Going into the bout as the fan favorite, he appeared to hurt Vrede in the opening round. Vrede came back with a powerful hook that stunned del Rosario and forced a standing eight-count by referee Steve Mazzagatti. After beating the count, del Rosario was dropped by an immediate high kick. The referee stopped the fight at 2:24 of the first round and declared Vrede the new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.

Following the death of Ginty Vrede, the WBC World Heavyweight Championship was vacated. Del Rosario then knocked out Mexican kickboxer Ricardo Romero at 1:20 in the second round on July 26, 2008 to win the title for a second time.

Mixed martial arts career

Shane del Rosario transitioned into mixed martial arts in 2006 when he made his debut for mixed martial arts promotion King of the Cage. He then competed for notable promotions including EliteXC, M-1 Global and Strikeforce.

Strikeforce

Shane del Rosario defeated Brandon Cash in his Strikeforce debut. He was expected to face Bobby Lashley at Strikeforce: Miami, but the bout never materialized. He was then expected to meet Ron Sparks at Strikeforce: Los Angeles on June 16, but that bout also never happened. Shane won against Lolohea Mahe by way of TKO on July 23, 2010 at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe. After the bout, Shane expressed his desire to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

On February 12, 2011, Del Rosario competed in an alternate bout for Strikeforce's World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament. He faced Lavar Johnson and won the bout with an armbar submission in the closing minute of the first round to earn the first reserve spot in the tournament.

He was to face Daniel Cormier at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum, but was involved in a car accident in which a drunk woman hit his car from the back. As a result from the accident, he suffered a herniated disc which kept him from training as well as forcing him to withdraw from the bout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Del Rosario’s manager Jason House announced that he had signed to the UFC to compete in the Heavyweight division, starting in 2012.

Del Rosario was expected to face Gabriel Gonzaga on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146. Due to Alistair Overeem testing positive for high levels of testosterone, Frank Mir replaced him for the title shot which promoted Antonio Silva to fight for the co-main event against Cain Velasquez. The move left Roy Nelson with no opponent, which prompted the UFC to let him face former title contender Gonzaga while del Rosario faced Stipe Miocic. del Rosario was defeated in the second round by TKO, giving him his first professional MMA career loss.

Del Rosario faced Pat Barry at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale. He lost the fight by knockout at 0:26 of the second round. Afterwards, Del Rosario was expected to face Dave Herman on July 6, 2013 at UFC 162,  but was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Gabriel Gonzaga. 

Del Rosario was to face Guto Inocente on December 28, 2013 at UFC 168. Del Rosario pulled out of the bout in October citing a rib injury; however, he suffered cardiac arrest and died before the scheduled fight date. 

Cardiac arrest and death

On November 26, 2013, del Rosario was hospitalized at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California after suffering full cardiac arrest following two heart attacks. According to Del Rosario's manager, Jason House, in a statement to Sherdog.com, del Rosario suffered a catastrophic cardiovascular collapse at home and was rushed to the hospital, where he was resuscitated in the emergency room back to a stable heart rhythm and blood pressure. According to Erik Apple, a training partner who had known del Rosario since they were in high school, del Rosario's liver and kidneys were not functioning and that he had been put on dialysis. Del Rosario had no prior health issues with his heart, although doctors now believe he may have had a rare heart condition called Long QT Syndrome

ESPN reported del Rosario had died on November 28, and this was repeated in various outlets. The credited author denied having written the story, and later reported del Rosario alive, though without brain activity.

On November 30, del Rosario was taken off life support and breathing on his own. He also registered brain activity and squeezed his mother’s hand.  Despite the improvements in his condition, Del Rosario died on December 9, 2013. 

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

• Strikeforce
  • Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament Reserve

Kickboxing

• World Boxing Council Muaythai
  • 2008 WBC Muaythai World Heavyweight Championship
  • 2007 WBC Muaythai World Heavyweight Championship