The reigning, defending BKFC lightweight champion, Luis Palomino finds himself in a different and much more dire fight than usual this week.
Palomino, a former WSOF fighter on the MMA side of things, has been hospitalized due to COVID-19. The experience has been so dire that it has changed his mind on healthy adults being vaccinated for the disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has blanketed the globe for the past 18 months.
In a post to social media, Palomino, who defended his lightweight title against Tyler Goodjohn at BKFC 18 on June 27, wrote that it was the surging Delta variant that landed him in a hospital bed.
“Fighting covid variant Delta,” he wrote, adding “12 days no food, sips of water, massive headaches, body aches, fevers from day one still going today, shiver attacks, no sleeps longer then 2/3 hours, inflammation of the pancreas, diarrhea pure water just started to calm down with medication. Severe pneumonia, and fluid in both lungs. Diabetes just popped up from all the steroids their pumping me with and took my first ever insulin shots.”
“The list goes on,” continued Palomino, adding “THIS IS NOT A JOKE GET VACCINATED ASAP.”
In an accompanying video, the fighter explained that he contracted the virus after getting engaged with his girlfriend, which led to celebrating.
“I spent the last five years without getting sick by simply taking care of my body and my immune system. After my engagement, during my engagement, I began celebrating, did a lot of drinking, and I let my immune system drop,” explained the bare-knuckle star. “So Delta caught me slipping. That’s exactly what happened. My five year streak was broken really bad.”
He then added a warning for anyone doubting the severity of the disease. “Just want to let you guys know, this thing is very serious. I was completely against the vaccine, except for elders and kids that are really young and have weakened immune systems. That I was never against, I always encouraged elders to get the vaccine, like my mom, for example. Family members, friends, I always agreed that they should take it, take the vaccine.”
“Now I encourage you all to take it. You got Pfizer FDA approved. Soon as I’m out of here, my entire family in my home, my fiance and my son, will be taking it. At least it will keep you from dying.”
Palomino has run up a 4-0 record since moving to bare-knuckle in 2020. A native of Lima, Peru, he currently resides in Florida, one of the hardest hit areas in terms of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
