Graphic video has emerged showing a wrestler setting himself on fire during an independent wrestling match April 22 in Pomona, California, according to TMZ.
The incident occurred at XPW Wrestling’s “deathmatch” event, when wrestler MASADA was attempting to blow a fireball at his opponent, TMZ reported Friday. Video footage posted by the outlet shows MASADA grabbing a flaming torch, pouring a flammable substance into his mouth and trying to blow the liquid. But something apparently went terribly wrong, and he ended up igniting his upper body into a ball of fire.
Flames engulfed his face and chest, and the announcer can be heard in the video screaming for someone to help him.
MASADA began to pat the fire out on his own face as he stumbled to the other side of the ring. Someone standing in that area briefly attempted to assist him by trying to put out the flames with their arms, the video shows.
The 41-year old reportedly finished the contest before being rushed to the hospital for medical care. He was diagnosed with first- and second-degree burns all over his body, and he remains in the burn unit in a nearby medical facility as he recovers from the incident, according to TMZ.
“My face is healing up fast, just the rest is going to take a while,” MASADA told TMZ Sports on Friday.
The injured wrestler shed some light on the situation and described what he believes went wrong during his stunt.
“I’ve done that spot a lot when I wrestled in Japan, but it was rushed and I think being outside had something to do with it,” he said. (RELATED: Jay Leno’s Near-Death Experience Led To Such Bad Burns, He May Need Skin Grafts)
MASADA will reportedly be taking some time off to heal, but he has no plans to quit the sport and is looking forward to returning to the ring as soon as he’s medically cleared, according to the outlet.