Tragic TKO Loss Results in the Death of a 27-Year-Old MMA Fighter With UFC Aspirations

The MMA world went into shock, as the news of Christian Lubenga passing away came in on Wednesday, March 16. Lubenga, 27, recently made his amateur debut at the AMMO Fight League. However, the fighter with UFC ambitions lost the fight against Cody McCracken in the third round via TKO. The event happened on March 12, 2022, at the Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts.

After the fight, Lubenga was taken to a hospital where he passed away on Monday. Subsequently, the unfortunate incident shocked the MMA world.

Lubenga, a father, fought from the Black Wolf Martial Arts gym who released a touching statement for the fighter.

The Instagram post was captioned, “We are at a loss of words. This is what a nightmare looks like…. It cant even be properly articulated with words and on a social media post nonetheless. We wanted to give the family some time to make their own decisions about how to go public with this before we spoke on it out of respect. While we ourselves are grieving and it’s difficult to even type this out we felt it appropriate to take a moment to say a few things.”

“Christian wasn’t just any student. Christian was the kind of human who brought life and light into any room he walked into. Christian was our family. We shared laughs, stories, blood, sweat, tears. He’s the kind of person I aspire to be like and I wish more people were like him. Polite, professional, humble, always kind to everyone no matter what. We spent hundreds of thousands of hours together doing the things we were passionate about. Christian was a true martial artist in every aspect of the word and a true warrior. We love you Christian. We all love you.”

Meanwhile, his family awaits the autopsy report as the cause of death remains unknown.

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Injuries in MMA/UFC

Sustaining injuries is one aspect of participating in a combat sport that is MMA. In the past, there have been some instances where athletes have sustained gruesome injuries. However, regulated promotions, such as the UFC, undertake every possible precaution to avoid any extreme circumstances.

Chris Weidman vs. Uriah Hall – Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman suffered a horrific leg injury during his fight with Uriah Hall in 2021.

Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman – A similar incident involving Chris Weidman took place in 2013. Only this time, Anderson Silva was on the receiving end of a broken tibia.

Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier – In 2021, former UFC champion Conor McGregor suffered a broken tibia and fibula during his fight against Dustin Poirier. After that, fans made a lot of concerns regarding the safety of the fighters.

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