The family of recently deceased MMA fighter Michael Kirkham recently released a statement through MidwestFightersFocus.com:
“On behalf of Michael Kirkham’s family, we would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes. We would like everyone to know a little bit about who Michael Kirkham was. He was a loving and caring son, brother, fiance, father and friend. Michael never met a stranger. Everyone to him was just a friend he hadn’t met, yet.
He was a talented musician and artist. He loved the MMA with a passion and was following his dream. To those who say he was cutting weight in order to be a 6′9” tall lightweight, that couldn’t be farther from the truth! He has always been tall and skinny with a very high metabolism. We do not hold his opponent on Saturday responsible for this! They were both in that cage doing what they were trained to do.
This was just a tragedy and was in no way the other fighters fault. We hope he goes on to be one of the best in this sport. We also hope that this does not become an argument for trying to ban the sport that Michael so dearly loved! He would not want his name to be used for that purpose!!
Michael loved this sport, his family and his friends, and would do anything he could for any of the three. There has been a memorial fund set up in Michael’s name to help his family to make sure his children are taken care of. If you would like to donate to this fund, please go to:
WWW.MichaelKirkhamMemorialFund.viviti.com .
A memorial service will be held Friday for his family and friends. Please respect the wishes of the family and remember that Michael was not just a news story, he was a real person with friends and family who loved him! Again, we thank everyone for their love and support.”