VIDEO | Tim Hague’s opponent speaks on his tragic passing: “I knew in the ring”

On Sunday, tragedy struck the combat sports community as UFC veteran Tim Hague passed away after being brutally knocked out in a Friday night boxing match.

Now several days removed from this tragedy, Hague’s opponent Adam Braidwood has broken his silence. Unsurprisingly, the boxer is heartbroken by the way things turned out.

“It’s not a good thing for anyone involved,” Braidwood said on Canada’s CTV news (via MMAJunkie.com). “I want to keep the focus on Tim and his family, especially his son. They’re the real victims here. … Just keep it about them the best that you can, because I’m still alive.”

A visibly distraught Braidwood then added that he knew something terrible had happened moments after the end of the fight, when both fighters were still in the ring.

“I knew, man. I knew in the ring,” Braidwood said. “I just saw the way he fell.”

“I waited on my knees for Tim to move after I did my stupid, little celebration. Like, I don’t care about that. People can say what they want. I waited on my knees. I watched him. I picked him up, because his team was struggling to pick him up. I carried him to the corner, and I could see in his face.”

Braidwood then commented on widespread comments that the fight should have been stopped far earlier.

“Tim wanted to keep fighting, and that’s what we do,” he said. “If people have delusions about this sport, about what life is really like for someone like me, who has nothing else, they can walk in my shoes. I would’ve done the same thing. And he would’ve done the same thing to me, trust me.”

https://www.facebook.com/CTVNewsChannel/videos/1461693510558642/

Braidwood also released a statement on this incident on Twitter, and encouraged fans to donate to a GoFundMe page started by Hague’s family.

Rip brother you will live in my heart forever. I will fight for us both now, I know that’s what you would have wanted. pic.twitter.com/H682h6rwJu

— Adam Braidwood (@BraidwoodBoxing) June 19, 2017

Donate to the Hague family’s GoFundMe page, which has now reached it’s $30,000 goal, here.

Tim Hague, who also worked as a grade-four elementary school teacher, leaves behind a 9-year-old son named Brady.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/20/2017.