Brian Gassaway, who began fighting professionally in 1996, has died at the age of 49.
The news of his passing was discovered after a GoFundMe campaign was launched to assist his family. Gassaway was part of a different generation with 52 pro fights listed on his record between 1996 and 2010.
As a sign of the times in MMA, Gassaway fought ten times between April and July 1996, sometimes several days between fights including one-night tournaments where you could fight several times in one night. He only fought once for the UFC, losing by TKO to Diego Sanchez in August 2005 on a Fight Night card on Spike, which was Sanchez’s first fight after winning the first season of the Ultimate Fighter.
Gassaway continued to take fights for the remainder of the decade and fought for Bellator during its early days in August 2010 where he defeated Kevin Knabjian by unanimous decision. The final fight listed in a submission loss to Shungo Oyama the following month in Singapore. Gassaway leaves behind his wife Mimi and son Rashad.
