Raoni Barcelos admits retirement ‘hasn’t been ruled out’ as medical tests continue

It’s been three weeks since Raoni Barcelos mysteriously collapsed during the fifth round of his UFC Vegas 121 main event against Raul Rosas Jr., leading to days in the hospital as medical experts ensured he wasn’t about to die.

We’ve seen similar collapses in the boxing ring, and they’re often a result of brain swelling, which can often be fatal. Those close to Barcelos are insisting it was nothing but exhaustion that felled the lightweight fighter, but the UFC and commissions will undoubtedly be going over the 39-year-old’s medicals with a fine tooth comb before allowing him to fight again.

In a new interview with MMA Fighting, Barcelos admitted he didn’t know what his future in fighting holds.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened,” Barcelos said. “It was a sudden illness. I fell ill, and I felt my whole body really starting to go numb. After that, I don’t remember anything. I only remember coming to in the ambulance, asking my father what had happened, and him trying to explain it to me as best he could.”

“It really was an unfortunate incident,” he continued. “I got sick, and to this day, we still don’t understand what happened. I’m undergoing a battery of tests here in Vegas. I had another MRI on Monday and we’re waiting for a good result. The doctor hasn’t released the results yet, and everything is being kept very confidential, but I feel better every day.”

Retirement “hasn’t been ruled out,” according to Barcelos.

“I want to make it clear right now that I don’t want to stop,” he said. “Everything is still very fresh for me. Saying that I’m going to stop, that I’ll never fight again, is very difficult right now when everything is still so recent. I’m not even thinking about that possibility. Could it happen? Of course, it could, but I don’t want to think about it. On the contrary, I’m trying to enjoy and make the most of this moment in the best way possible.”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out,” Barcelos concluded. “I need a diagnosis to really understand what happened, but I have to keep living my life so that I can eventually get back to doing what I love most, which is fighting.”

He added that he has a six month medical suspension that includes a strict ‘no contact’ term and his doctors have told him to keep his heart rate from getting elevated. While an answer to what happened may still be elusive, it seems like he’s getting the absolute best medical care. If he can return, this will be the team that clears him.