Former UFC and ECW star Paul Varelans died last weekend due to complications arising from Covid-19
UFC and ECW trailblazer Paul Varelans died on Saturday after a long battle with Covid-19. He was diagnosed with the virus in mid-December.
Varelans shared chronicles of his battle with Covid-19 on Facebook and was soon placed on a ventilator where he was fighting for his life.
The 51-year-old described the pain as one of the most gruesome things he had ever had to face in his life.
“The best way I can compare the feel of COVID-19 in my experience is, it’s like fighting a guy who specializes in kidney punches,” Varelans wrote in mid-December. “They never stop coming.”
One of his friends, Shane Viens, shared information about Varelans’ initial battle with the virus back in December. The condition was already looking from thereon, despite the American fighting bravely to recover.
WWE NXT star and former UFC fighter Shayna Baszler shared her tributes for Varelans on her Twitter account.
Varelans was one of the pioneers in the promotion. He fought in UFC 6, 7, and 8, with his first UFC fight coming in 1995.
He retired from MMA after 3 years in the sport in February 1998 with a record of 9-9-0. Apart from his career in UFC, he also briefly featured on ECW.
He fought in the Hardcore Heaven event in ECW which took place in June 1996. There, he lost to Taz via submission in a ‘shoot fight’. He later stated that he had agreed to lose that fight in advance.
And, his opponent on that day, Taz, shared his condolences on Twitter. He wrote that ‘The Polar Bear’ was a “great guy”, who was a “big strong tough SOB”.
Our thoughts are with the family of friends of Varelans in this tough time.
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