Wife of CT MMA fighter who died after first bout searches for answers: ‘We had planned the next steps of our life together’
Lisa Backus
Sep. 6, 2022
New Haven resident Christian Lubenga died after participating in his first mixed martial arts fight on March 12 in Massachusetts.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The wife of New Haven mixed martial arts fighter Christian Lubenga who died after his first bout in March continues to seek answers following her husband’s death.
“There is no reason that someone 25 goes in healthy and doesn’t come out the other side,” Margaret Anderson said this week.
Lubenga was injured during a sanctioned MMA St. Patrick’s fight at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield on March 12. He died two days later of complications from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security which conducted an autopsy. His death was ruled an accident, authorities said. He was 25.
His widow is considering filing a wrongful death lawsuit, papers filed in Connecticut Probate Court said. But any potential litigation will take time, said attorney Cullen Guilmartin, who is on the team representing Anderson in the probate case.
“We’re investigating the cause of his death,” Guilmartin said Tuesday. “We’re in the preliminary stages of gathering medical records and trying to figure out what happened.”
Amateur MMA fighters wear wraps, not boxing gloves, and have no head protection, Anderson said. But the goal of the fight is to knock the opponent out. “That’s a brain event,” she said. “That’s why you need trained professionals doing examinations before, during and after the rounds.”
“These are grown men hitting each other at full force,” she said.
According to Massachusetts MMA regulations, fighters must be weighed and examined by a physician before a fight to certify that they are healthy enough to participate. Fighters must also be examined “as soon as possible” after a bout and given medical treatment if needed by a ringside physician. The physician is required to report any injuries to the Massachusetts State Athletics Commission which regulates MMA fighting in the state, the regulations state.
A few weeks after her husband’s death, the commission which also regulates boxing and other fighting sports, met to discuss the match between Lubenga and Cody McCracken. At least one MMA fight promoter called on the group to be as transparent as possible about Lubenga’s death.
A commissioner responded that the body was interested in the safety of the sport and would use whatever information it acquires to work with the fighting community. But the commission has not spoken publicly about Lubenga’s death since - other than to approve $9,178 in funeral expenses for his burial from the Boxer’s Fund, according to the minutes of several subsequent meetings that have taken place since March 21.
Lubenga was a semester away from earning a master’s degree in business analytics and spoke six languages when he died, Anderson told Hearst Connecticut Media Group in March.
He was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the two met, Anderson said. The couple moved to Rwanda, then California, then New Haven, as they started their future together and raised their son, Gabby.
Lubenga was quiet by nature, reserved and thoughtful, and cared deeply for his family, particularly their son, Anderson said. In his spare time, he trained as an athlete, lifting weights and boxing, and always had some sort of side project going as he pursued his studies.
He was awarded his graduate degree posthumously, said officials at Bridgeport University where he studied.
After he received his degree the couple had planned to move to Washington D.C. where she would start her doctorate, she said. She made the move alone a short while ago with her son who started kindergarten Monday.
“It’s been a lot of life transition without that key person,” she said. “I’m really feeling the void. We had planned the next steps of our life together. It’s really hard.”
Gabby, who is 5, is also struggling with grief, she said. At night he’ll ask her to tell a story about him and “Baba” what he called his father, when he was young, Anderson said. “He misses him,” she said.
Based on studies she’s read, head trauma is fairly prevalent in MMA fighters, Anderson said. “There’s a high risk of traumatic brain injury,” she said.
But she believes that officials aren’t making the risks clear to fighters. “One of the things that isn’t so apparent is that it’s dangerous,” she said. “I don’t think they are telling the fighters.”
Referees and other fight officials need to be well trained in recognizing the signs of brain trauma to stop the fight before it’s too late, she said.
She started classes for her doctoral degree in Public Health a few weeks ago, she said. “We had high hopes for what this move would bring to our family,” she said. “Now I’m doing it alone.”
William Lambert contributed to this story.
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