Jorge Rivera Fighting for the Memory of His Daughter, Contemplating Retirement

Nice write up.

As a parent myself. I wouldn’t ever want to imagine the pain Jorge must be going through. God bless him and his family.

surely it cant be worth it. and im not necessarily talking about the tragic, rare death as a result

anyways great article, seems like a really solid guy. props to him, ill have to make sure to cheer a little extra harder for him

along with guys like Lytle, Serra, etc…. Good fighters, often overlooked, but have been in there with some of the best, and almost always put up a good fight…. I

I remember when Kenny dedicated his fight to Jorge’s daughter, and I hope Jorge can finish his career in the UFC as a winner… He always spoke about how he fought for his family, and was grateful that he could earn a living as a fighter in the UFC….

When I was young, everyone in my neighbourhood knew everyone else; all the kids went to school together (except those spoiled brats in the Catholic school… jokes!) and all the parents hung out together. That being the case, I can’t tell you the first time I met Jenny, because I was probably no more than a toddler.

Jenny was one year older than me. We went all the way through school together, separated by one grade – primary, middle, high school, and even to the same university. In grade 4, she was my Reading Buddy. In grade 7, she showed me around the new school, and did the same in grade 9 (I always figured this should have been my big brother’s job, but I digress). We weren’t “buddies” – different social groups, different ages – but we were friendly and we knew each other well.

I was about half way through my first year at McMaster, and I’d seen Jenny a few days before on campus and had a chat with her – I can’t remember now whether she was doing nursing or psychology, but I remember she just wanted to “help” – when I picked up a newspaper in the cafeteria and saw her picture on the obituary page. She had developed some sort of random blood clot in her lung and died in her sleep. There was no medical history behind it, and they say that if a doctor had been right next to her, she still would have died. I got back to my room to find a message on my phone from my parents, also letting me know. She was just over 20 years old.

I feel for Jorge. Obviously in the case of his daughter, there was a catalyst (the medication), but just like with Jenny, there remains a gaping lack of “why”. I think the hardest thing for everyone who knew Jenny to get past was that, if there was a reason behind her death, it was and would forever be obscure to us. It’s a terrible, crushing thing: to not only lose someone you care about, but to not even have the gap that they leave filled with the slightest shred of enlightenment… well, it feels like the loss is pointless. Like the pain in all the people left behind is just empty energy. I felt that way for a friend; I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for Rivera. To keep fighting and training as he’s done shows an incredible will and conviction. I have much respect for him, and I hope that he’s able to find something positive in it all.

Very nice, I think it is important to recognize fighters like Jorge just as much as the top tier champions/contenders.

Sad about his daughter and damn, what are the odds of something like that. I think prescription drug reaction and mixing of prescriptions is a huge issue that is getting little attention because it commonly in the elderly and isn’t caught.

Jorge has stepped up and fought the best, occasionally surprising people. definitely a solid fighter.

Glad to see he is thinking about a life after fighting, though I think he still has some fight left in him.

I’ve always like Rivera – he’s not a top contender, but he always fights his hardest (and anyone who KO’s Kendall Grove gets special place in my heart). I was very glad to see Dana bring him a phone so he could talk to his wife and newborn daughter on TUF.

You know what sucks? How anyone with an SBN account will jump on here and spew venom when a high-profile maroon like Dana White says naughty words or a fighter gets busted for DUI, but not a lot of folks take the time to acknowledge or even read stories like this, the ones that humanize the athletes in our great sport. Sigh.

Jorge Rivera is a stand up guy and a fighter I’ve always looked forward to watching, no matter the opponent. I was heartbroken for him and his family when I heard this news, and so proud of my fellow Bostonian when he pulled out the "W" against Osterneck. His post-fight speech and the crowd showing their support was a thing of beauty. No matter how much time Jorge has left in the game, I’ll be cheering him on.

I can accept that. I just think it’s better to either let it stand and acknowledge the mistake or give everybody an edit button so they can correct poorly worded comments. That said, I agree with your point. It’s definitely a shame that people are so much more eager to jump in and argue stupid shit than they are to pay attention to stories like this.

One more thing, which should have been my first thing. Although I doubt they’ll ever read this, I want to offer my condolences to Jorge Rivera and his family. Losing a loved one is always painful, but losing a child has to be the worst. I’ve suffered the sudden loss of family members and others, and I can’t imagine being able to focus on training and fighting through that pain.