Who was Suzy Friton, the longtime UFC make-up artist who recently passed away?
The UFC's lead wardrobe, make-up, and hair-style artist Suzy Friton passed away on Thursday after battling stage four breast cancer.
She had been with the MMA promotion since 2006 and had traveled to events all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and sometimes even South America.
Suzy Friton was in charge of make-up for UFC octagon girls, ring announcers, color commentators and fighters during Fight Nights, The Ultimate Fighter and other mini-shows and series associated with the Dana White-owned company.
Friton had twice recovered from stage two breast cancer in the past, and in March 2020 was diagnosed with stage four. She had lost a lot of weight by then and was clearly struggling.
By November-December, she had recovered substantially using chemotherapy and radiation initially, and then by switching to a more holistic approach because she felt western medicine was making her condition even worse.
She was almost completely fine after the treatment period, regaining weight and being able to work normally.
But a few months later, the cancer recurred and this time spread to her spine, liver, lungs and a few other parts. However, she was strong enough to keep her battle going. Unfortunately, the severity of the disease kept increasing.
Watch Suzy Friton's conversation with Marcus Deegan on her battle with breast cancer earlier this year:
Several UFC fighters and commentators had donated to the Suzy Friton fund
In July 2020, a GoFundMe campaign was started for Suzy Friton by Brittany Churchill, the wife of No.13 UFC light heavyweight contender Misha Cirkunov. Churchill is a breast cancer survivor herself.
The likes of No.1 UFC pound-for-pound fighter Jon Jones, former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier, current strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas, former welterweight champ Tyron Woodley and commentator Jon Anik had also donated to the fund back then.
The fund helped raise over $100,000 dollars for the treatment of Suzy Friton. Her death has now shaken the entire MMA community, which is paying tribute to her using social media and other platforms.