The world is grieving the loss of one of the most melodious voices in pop culture. The former member of the famous boy band ‘One Direction’, Liam Payne, reportedly fell to his death on October 16, 2024. As per the reports, the singer fell from the balcony of the Casa Sur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The singer had already passed away by the time emergency responders reached the scene. While uncertainty revolved around the tragic incident, with the netizens wondering if it was intentional, the world of mixed martial arts poured their hearts and grieved with the world.

Conor McGregor’s teammate, Dillon Danis, also got pretty emotional with the news. Taking to the comments section of a post on Instagram, Danis wrote, “I got to chop it up with a couple of times. He was always a gem. Rest in peace, G.”

The 31-year-old pop star’s death is still being investigated, with a full autopsy report pending. But there are claims that before Payne fell 30-40 feet down, a complaint was lodged by the manager of the hotel regarding an aggressive man, probably under the influence of substances. The heartbreaking scenes have flooded social media platforms, and celebrities from all over offering heartfelt tributes to the singer. 

As the world showers its painful tributes for the Englishman, let’s take a few moments to remember the legendary vocalist. After all, he wasn’t too far away from the land of combat sports.

Liam Payne’s presence in the world of martial arts

There was a time when the UFC interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, declared that he wanted to fight the English singer. In an interview in 2023, JNMEDIAUK asked Aspinall if he ever fancied fighting Liam Payne. To this, the ‘Honey Badger’ responded with, “If Liam Payne wants it, I’ll fight Liam Payne. [I don’t think he wants it, mate. I don’t think he wants it. Maybe Harry Styles might want it, how about that?] If any of them want it, I’ll take that but otherwise, I’ll stick to the UFC, I reckon.”

But the British pop star was more inclined towards the squared ring than an MMA cage. He hopped in with Tommy Fury and teased the fighting community of a boxing bout on social media. While the world began chanting for a fight, it never really materialized. In time, the fighting community got to know that it was nothing but a teaser for Fury and Payne’s charity match, Soccer Aid football. 

However, fighting with his fists wasn’t completely out of the question for the pop star. Talking to Mike Majkal on Logan Paul’s podcast, he expressed his desire to step into the squared ring. Payne said, “If there is a chance for me to jump in the boxing ring and have a go to see what that feels like to be Gladiatorial in the 21st Century I’m in like let’s do it.” 

And when it came to Jiu Jitsu, his love was indeed out of bounds. Talking about the sport, he said, “Jujitsu I love as a sport just because it’s so concentrated there’s so many things and there’s a sensitivity of going in and fighting jiujitsu and it also made me change my judgment on anyone I would even like try to fight with.”

But alas! These dreams never really came true, and now they lost the power to do so. Liam Payne has graced the world with songs like ‘Familiar’, ‘Sunshine’, ‘Strip That Down’, and many more. While the Englishman wanted to debut in the fighting world, fate had different plans, as he sent many fight fans and professionals to grieve. May the departed soul rest in peace.