News 12 First at Five / Monday, Aug. 13, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Friends, family and coaches all say he went into the fight strong and confident.

Little did he know he'd be fighting for his life.

"There are a lot of the guys that walk through the door at my gym that say that they want to be a fighter -- that say they want to be a part of my fight club. Most of them get turned away," said Augusta Fight Club Coach Chris Hauser.

But not Tyrone "Teesta" Mims. Everyone who knew him says he was a born fighter.

"He always had a passion to fight. He wasn't scared to fight. He wasn't scared of nothing," said his cousin Chris Cole.

The first round of the fight was proof of just that.

"First round, he destroyed that dude. I mean, he was throwing that guy around like he was nothing," Hauser said.

Tyrone wasn't a novice fighter. He'd been doing it all his life, but in round two of this fight, something went wrong.

"He threw one solid punch up; the next punch was limp. He wasn't knocked out or asleep, but he seemed incoherent," Hauser said.

The referee stopped the fight and they took him to the back so he could get checked out.

As they were cutting off his gloves, Tyrone said his chest hurt.That's when he collapsed, and no one knows why.

"Unbelievable shape. I mean the training that they did. Not one sign of any problem at all. This was a perfect specimen," said fight club physician Jeffrey Broder, M.D.

"We fight a lot harder in the gym than he did in the cage. And the training, the training is way more intense than the fight actually is," Hauser said.

Everyone who fought him knew he had a big punch, but friends and family say he had an even bigger heart.

"He was a superstar in our reality show, he was a superstar in life, he was a superstar in the cage, and he was a superstar to his family and his kids," Hauser said.

The fight club was in the middle of filming a reality TV show called "Georgia Boys Grits N Glory." They have set up a donation website to help the family with funeral costs. They have also set up a trust fund for Tyrone's five kids. Click here to donate.

Initial report:

Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Charleston County authorities say a 30-year-old mixed martial arts fighter from Augusta has died after a bout in Mount Pleasant.

Deputy Coroner Dottie Lindsay says Tyrone Mims of Augusta, Ga., collapsed after the fight and was pronounced dead about 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Medical University Hospital.

The mixed martial arts event at Omar Shrine Temple at Patriots Point was called "Fight Night at the Point 6."

It was being streamed live online.

The cause of death is not yet known. An autopsy is scheduled Monday.

(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)

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