Shane Del Rosario Died of Natural Causes, but Drugs Found in System

Shane Del Rosario died of natural causes after suffering a heart attack on Nov. 26, but the late UFC heavyweight also had traces of cocaine, opiates and THC present in his body at the time of death.

Steven Marrocco from MMAjunkie.com first issued the report. Bleacher Report was able to confirm the news by obtaining a copy of the death certificate from the Orange County coroner's office. We have also made an image of the death certificate viewable here. 

The amounts of each substance present in the body are not available because the results come from a routine urinalysis. An autopsy on Del Rosario's body was not performed at the request of the family.

Del Rosario's immediate causes of death were listed as: anoxic encephalopathy, ventricular fibrillation and Long QT Syndrome. He suffered brain damage from a lack of oxygen to his brain after the heart attack, and also displayed abnormal heart rhythms that are consistent with congenital heart disease. 

Del Rosario's death was announced on Dec. 9 after being kept alive by life support since his heart attack. But according to the death certificate, Del Rosario was actually declared dead on Dec. 3. According to the report from MMAjunkie, that's because the family refused to allow Del Rosario to be taken off life support:

“What we go by is when a neurologist pronounces them brain-dead, when they get a second brain-dead pronouncement,” Aikin said. “The family was not allowing the hospital to remove him from life support.”

Del Rosario was 30 years old when he passed away. He was a former kickboxing world champion who made the move to mixed martial arts in 2006. But a horrific car accident left him damaged, and his fighting career never quite got back on track.