MMA fighter making debut in Massachusetts dies two days after bout

An MMA fighter, participating in his first fight, has died.

27-year-old Christian Lubenga, who fought out of Black Wolf Martial Arts in Orange, Connecticut, was making his debut Saturday at AMMO Fight League 10 at the Big E in West Springfield.

Cody McCracken, who was also participating in his first fight, won the bout against Lubenga via TKO in the third round. Lubenga was taken to the hospital after the bout and died on Monday morning.

The Medical examiner will be conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Black Wolf released a statement concerning the tragic death of Lubenga.

“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.”