Who is Fau Vake, the MMA fighter currently battling for his life?
Fau Vake is an MMA fighter from New Zealand. Vake is a friend and teammate of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya from their gym City Kickboxing in Auckland.
Fau Vake is a kickboxer who transitioned into MMA not long ago, similar to his teammates from City Kickboxing. Vake competes in the welterweight division in mixed martial arts. His MMA record is presently 2-0.
Fau Vake is also a father to a young daughter.
Fau Vake was reportedly involved in a brawl which led to him being admitted to Auckland City Hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning. The young fighter is critically ill and is battling for his life.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya uploaded a post to Twitter asking his followers to pray for his friend's life.
Fellow UFC fighter and City Kickboxing teammate Kai Kara France was also quick to retweet Adesanya's post and asked the social media universe to pray for his friend's health.
A New Zealand publication called 'Stuff' incorrectly reported that Fau Vake had succumbed to his injuries and passed away, bringing shock to the young fighter's friends and family. The publication subsequently bore the brunt of Israel Adesanya's displeasure with their misplaced reporting.
'Stuff' has since gone on to correct their mistakes and alter the article.
Fau Vake transitioned to MMA with the hopes of making it to the UFC
Not unlike his teammates from City Kickboxing, Fau Vake made the switch to MMA from kickboxing with the hopes of making it to the UFC one day. Vake's brothers John and James are fighters as well.
Fau Vake is an accomplished kickboxer holding multiple belts. He has competed primarily as a middleweight in kickboxing but competes as a welterweight in MMA.
Hopefully, once Vake recovers and resumes his training regime, he can continue his quest towards the UFC. City Kickboxing is home to multiple UFC fighters like Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker, Alexander Volkanovski, and Kai Kara France.