Combat sports are harsh, real people lost their lives in the arena. Now the sports claimed another life as Christian Lubenga, an amateur MMA fighter passed away after getting knocked out in his debut fight.
Lubenga, 27, was facing Cody McCracken on AMMO Fight League 10 card on March 12 at the Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, Lubenga lost the bout via TKO on the 3rd round and was immediately rushed to the hospital after the fight but he sadly passed away on Monday.
His gym, Black Wolf Martial Arts in Orange, Connecticut released the heartbreaking statement regarding Lubenga’s passing in their Instagram account.
“We are at a loss of words. This is what a nightmare looks like…. It can’t 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.”
View this post on Instagram
More details about the cause of the death of Lubenga are still unavailable as his family is still awaiting the Medical Examiner to perform the autopsy.
Lubenga was known as a hard worker throughout his life, and aspiring to be the next UFC champion of Congolese descent.
To achieve his dream, he studied various martial arts like BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, and Capoeira at the University of Bridgeport, where he also earned a Master’s degree in Computer Systems Analysis.