\n<\/p>\n
Turns out it wasn\u2019t a knockout, but rather swelling in the brain that triggered a shut down.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira, who was cornering Barcelos in the \u201cSin City\u201d headliner. Teixeira accompanied his fellow Brazilian to the hospital and was part of the lengthy recovery process, which lasted until Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was different because it wasn\u2019t a knockout,\u201d Teixeira said on the Overdogs Podcast. \u201cIf it had been a knockout, we\u2019re used to that. A fighter takes a shot, gets knocked out, okay, let\u2019s take him to the hospital, all right. But this was something that happened out of nowhere, and we started thinking about all kinds of things. Could it have been his heart? Could it have been something neurological? They went in and ran the tests. There was some swelling in his brain, so it was a traumatic brain injury, and maybe that swelling caused him to black out. It was the body\u2019s defense mechanism. \u2018Let\u2019s shut this down because this guy isn\u2019t going to stop.\u2019 His mind was stronger than his body, right? He didn\u2019t want to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c[Raoni\u2019s father] is an extremely stoic guy, [saying] \u2018Yeah, we have to see. I don\u2019t know if it was an accidental headbutt that we didn\u2019t see,\u2019\u201d Teixeira said. \u201cIt looked like it might have been an accidental headbutt and then he went down, but we didn\u2019t know. And seeing him being taken out on a stretcher at that moment, man, it was the most desperate moment in MMA. I saw everyone\u2019s faces, Hunter\u2019s face, the concern. I was worried too, but I kept looking at everyone\u2019s faces. You find yourself looking for the expression of the UFC doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s going to be a conversation he\u2019ll have with his family and everyone else,\u201d Teixeira said. \u201cHe needs to undergo all the proper tests to find out what happened, whether it really was a result of the trauma from the fight. It\u2019s a decision that has to be made with a lot of care and caution.\u201d<\/p>\n