Israel Adesanya blasts “coward punchers” after teammate Fau Vake left in critical condition following assault

UFC superstar Israel Adesanya blasted “coward punchers” after his teammate Fau Vake was left in critical condition following an assault.

Vake, who is a teammate of Adesanya at City Kickboxing, was allegedly assaulted following a local MMA event in Auckland on Sunday morning, according to Newshub. According to witnesses, Vake was punched from behind and didn’t see the blow coming. Vake has reportedly been admitted to a local hospital in critical condition following the sucker punch. Witnesses said that he was waiting for a taxi when he was punched from behind.

“I am distraught. My gym brother may die because of the gutless actions of these men. In the past decade, there have been numerous deaths from punches thrown when people are not looking. Given the massive publicity these crimes have received, no-one is dumb enough to think there is not a serious risk of death. There is no excuse, it should be considered attempted murder or murder,” Israel Adesanya said in a statement.

Adesanya and Vake’s coach Eugene Bareman also offered a comment on the sucker punch, blasting politicians for not giving out harsher punishments for these types of attacks.

“The Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria all introduced coward punch laws in 2014. In 2018, the New Zealand Parliament rejected a bill in its first reading to create a coward punch offence with a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment. This means there is absolutely no deterrent in place to make people think twice about this type of attack,” Bareman said.

Vake is an amateur MMA fighter with a 2-0 amateur record, with both of his fights taking place back in 2016. He trains with Adesanya and the rest of the crew at City Kickboxing and the whole team has been in a shock following this brutal alleged attack on the streets.

We here at BJPenn.com wish the best for Fau Vake in his recovery from this assault.