In the life of an MMA fighter, to face a near death experience is not something entirely unforeseen. Gianni Vazquez had one such in the ring when a referee remembers the lights turning on and off, but his memory admittedly is distorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo be honest, I cannot remember everything perfectly \u2013 how it happened,\u201d Vazquez told MMA Junkie days after Fury FC 76. The sounds are more vivid memories than the sights for Vazquez, who recalls a familiar voice screaming for referee Frank Collazo to stop the fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI heard clearly the voice of Alex Morono,\u201d Vazquez said. \u201cI\u2019m always watching the sport and Fury FC fights or whatever, so I recognized his voice right away. He\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, Frank, what are you doing? Stop it. Stop.\u2019 So then I kind of wake up and I see a little bit with my eyes, the referee. His face is on my face almost. Then I kind of passed out again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With an arena full of fans, promotion officials and coaches, Collazo was unperturbed as Edgar Chairez continued to choke an unconscious Vazquez, waiting for the feeling of a tap. When the tap never came, Chairez switched to an armbar, which freed up blood and oxygen to reunite with Vazquez\u2019s brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI started feeling a lot of pain on my arm, so I wake up,\u201d Vazquez said. \u201cMy body kind of feels like a noodle. It didn\u2019t react. So I started tapping with my leg. I started tapping with my feet. Then, I was kind of coming in and out, so I kind of went back to sleep a little bit, like one second or two seconds, probably. Then, I wake up and I started feeling more and more pain in my arm. Little by little, I tried to fight with my hand to tap with the hand and they stopped it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n