Former UFC Fighter Benji Radach Dies at 45, Family Announces

Former MMA fighter Benji Radach has died.

Radach, a seasoned veteran who competed in the UFC, Strikeforce, WEC, Bellator and IFL, among other promotions, fought 24 times in professional MMA from 2001 to 2015. Radach’s brother, Beau, announced the news Tuesday on Facebook. No cause of death has been released. Radach was 45.

Radach has competed in three fights in the UFC. He made his debut at UFC 37 against Steve Berger in May 2002. Radach was initially declared the winner by knockout in 27 seconds, but the result was overturned when replay showed he had held the fence.

Radach turned around a month later at UFC 37.5 and defeated Nick Serra by unanimous decision. In September 2002, he lost to Sean Sherk by TKO due to a cut and subsequently left the promotion.

After a few more fights on the regional scene, Radach signed with the IFL. He fought six times for them in 2007 and went 5-1 for the Los Angeles Anacondas.

Over the next eight years, Radach competed in four fights. He defeated Murilo Rua in Elite XC before losing to Scott Smith and Ovince Saint Preux in Strikeforce. After a five-year hiatus, Radach competed in what would be his final professional fight, a unanimous decision loss to Ben Reiter in 2015 at Bellator 137.

Many members of the MMA community paid tribute to Radach following the news of his passing. Some of those tributes can be seen below.