After his first MMA battle, Christian Lubenga, 27, died in the hospital.
Christian Lubenga, a father and mixed martial artist, died tragically after his amateur debut at AMMO Fight League 10. The Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts hosted the event on March 12.
Lubenga was defeated in the third round by Cody McCracken, who scored a TKO. He was transported to the hospital after the match and passed away on Monday.
An autopsy will be performed by the Medical Examiner to ascertain the cause of death.
His family, friends, coaches, and teammates are all shocked by his demise. Lubenga’s gym, Black Wolf Martial Arts in Orange, Connecticut, issued a heartfelt statement upon his death:
“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.”