Raoni Barcelos suffered arguably the scariest knockout in recent memory at UFC Vegas 121. The Brazilian lost consciousness in the opening minutes of the fifth round, apparently from a slam, forcing cageside doctors to attend to him immediately. UFC’s statement revealed that Barcelos was rushed to a Level 1 trauma center, where he eventually showed signs of improvement. 

Following that update, the UFC veteran’s personal physician, Dr. Gustavo Medeiros, shared further insight into Barcelos’ condition through a social media video.  

“Hello, everyone. How are you? My name is Gustavo Medeiros. I’m Raoni’s doctor, and I’m here with this message to bring some good news and reassure everyone who has been sending messages to the team and Raoni’s family,” Gustavo said as per ESPN Brazil. “As everyone knows, Raoni suffered a sudden illness during the fight. 

“At the moment, he is lucid and oriented. I’m in direct contact with our team there in the United States, in Las Vegas, so I’m very well informed about his condition. Raoni is currently lucid and oriented.”   

Dr. Gustavo’s words suggest he isn’t physically with Raoni Barcelos in Las Vegas at the moment. But he’s monitoring the UFC fighter’s condition with the help of his team. Despite the doctor mentioning that Barcelos suffered a “sudden illness,” neither he nor his team disclosed exactly what happened with Barcelos at UFC Vegas 121.  

Regardless, the Brazilian’s physician yet again reassured fans that Barcelos is out of any severe danger. However, the bantamweight veteran must remain in the medical facility until further checkups are completed.

“He was hospitalized purely as a precautionary measure, and he needs to remain under observation for a few days so that we can monitor his condition and make sure everything continues to progress well,” Dr. Gustavo added. “So, I’m sending this good news to everyone who is rooting for Raoni. He is doing well, and in a little while, he’ll be back much stronger. A big hug.”    

Besides Barcelos’ doctor, his head coach, Davi Ramos, also confirmed that “everything is fine” through a social media video. Plus, prominent UFC journalist Ariel Helwani also corroborated that Barcelos underwent CT scans and can “speak and move his body” without any problems.

Even so, Dr. Gustavo’s word definitely carries credibility, and not only because he serves as the Brazilian bantamweight’s personal physician. He also previously worked as the physician for UFC legend Jose Aldo. So, Barcelos is definitely in credible hands. 

However, amid the confusion surrounding the actual cause of Raoni Barcelos’ blackout during the fight, a separate doctor has offered a prognosis on his condition. 

Sports physician reviews Raoni Barcelos’ scary knockout loss at UFC Vegas 121   

Raoni Barcelos’ knockout loss, or rather the mystery surrounding the exact cause of his loss of consciousness, has just sparked deep concern. Because of that, Dr. Brian Sutterer, an MD in sports medicine, decided to share his thoughts on the Brazilian veteran’s scary stoppage at UFC Vegas 121.

Dr. Sutterer is known for making YouTube videos on the various injuries UFC and boxing athletes sustain during their bouts. In one of those breakdown videos, the medical specialist weighed in on Barcelos’ condition.

“It was nice to see we had a good, quick check of the pulse,” he said. “We did not see any CPR, so presumably there was no cardiac arrest that was sustained. Therefore, cardiac things, at least initially, are not high on the list [of possible causes].”

After ruling out a potential cardiac arrest in his prognosis, Dr. Sutterer said Barcelos’ sudden loss of consciousness might stem from dehydration. But in the worst-case scenario, the doctor believes a traumatic brain injury could also have left the 39-year-old blacked out.

“Being a traumatic sport, with all the repetitive head blows at the end of the fight, we have to be prepared for the development of an internal brain bleed that became worse and got to the point where it finally caused him to pass out and lose consciousness at the end of the fight.

“That is going to be the worst-case scenario in this event. Hopefully, this is just something like crazy, sheer exhaustion, electrolyte abnormalities, dehydration, or even something like a buildup of intraocular pressure in the eye that caused a syncopal response. I think number one has to be that brain bleed, that brain injury,” he added.

With Raoni Barcelos finally showing signs of recovery, we can only hope further medical reports don’t reveal any adverse signs and he can continue fighting. Now, only time can reveal what Barcelos’ actual situation looks like.