ESPN Writer Denies Writing ESPN Article Claiming Living Man Is Dead

This is tragic and weird. MMA fighter Shane Del Rosario is on life support after suffering a series of critical heart attacks this week, but according to numerous sources close to the situation (including Del Rosario's own family members), he is still alive. That's contrary to what ESPN's been reporting for several hours under MMA writer Josh Gross's byline. The weirdest part? Gross says he never wrote that article.

Of course, ESPN's false reporting has now spread in both attributed and unattributed ways, with online memorials and tributes already a reality. The details of Del Rosario's case lead us to assume they will, sadly and eventually, be valid. But for now, he's a man who is not dead; ESPN is insisting he is dead, and the man under whose name ESPN is doing the insisting denies the very report he is alleged to have written.

Update (8:55 a.m.): Roughly 12 hours later, ESPN finally removed the false story. Here's what it looked like before it was removed: