Indian fighter Nikhil Suresh passes away following knockout at Kickboxing event

13 July 2022

Indian fighter Nikhil Suresh has passed away following a knockout that he suffered at a kickboxing event in Bangalore this past weekend. Nikhil was an active name in the Indian Combat Sports circuit and trained under Coach Vikram Nagaraj at AMS Budo Code.

He had recently competed at the 6^th Bengaluru Open MMA Championship and had also competed at the 5^th MMA India Nationals in Neemuch Madhya Pradesh.

The unfortunate incident reportedly happened during the event which was organized by the K1 Association of Karnataka on 9^th and 10^th of July. Nikhil was hospitalized after the fight. The news of Nikhil’s passing was shared by his team today. Nikhil was in the hospital following a knockout in a Kickboxing event that happened in Bangalore last weekend. Below is the statement from his team and coach Vikram Nagaraj.

“With profound sadness, I shoulder the burden of breaking the terrible news that we all dreaded. My boy Nikhil decided to hang his gloves today. His beautiful soul left us behind after a hard-fought battle in the early hours of today in spite of the best medical attention. He will be etched eternally on our hearts and memories. I am shattered beyond words by my loss. Today I have lost a son. We pray almighty to give us all enough strength to bear the unbearable. My deepest condolences ???? #combatsportssafety  #justicefornikhil P.S: Legal procedures have been initiated by the family to take it to a logical conclusion,”

Nikhil Suresh in action during the MMA India Nationals which happened back in May. He picked up a win in this match

The team had also shared details about the incident in their previous post and noted that the event did not have proper safety precautions in place.

“My boy Nikhil is in a critical state of health post a knockout suffered at the K1 Kickboxing championship organized by K1 association of Karnataka on 9th and 10th of July 2022 in Bangalore. Had there been an ambulance, trained medical staff, and a standard fighting platform at the venue he wouldn't have lost those precious golden moments when the tragedy struck and could have saved him from this agony. This cries for a major overhaul in the mindset of organizers and associations to follow safety protocols which are already in place for combat sports,” the post read.

We had reached out to the organizers for a statement on the lack of medical facilities at the event but did not get a response.

The incident once again underlines the importance of safety measures at Combat Sports events. Our deepest condolences to Nikhil’s family and friends.

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