Hakaraia Wilson, a Mixed Martial Arts fighter from New Zealand died at 26 years old. Wilson died on the 1st of January 2025 in the New Zealand North Island city of Gisborne where he was attending the festival known as Rhythm and Vines.
According to the police, the Mixed Martial Arts fighter’s death is being treated as sudden and not suspicious.
In a statement, Wilson’s gym, Oliver MMA and Fitness Gymsaid that with heavy hearts they share the death of Hakaraia Wilson who they described as a true pillar of their family and community and their brother.
Collaboration with LEON
Wilson was a promising MMA fighter and a LEON Bet Ambassador since April 2024 together with Joshua Culibao, Justin Tafa, and Junior Tafa. As Ambassadors, all four fighters participate in regular blog updates and special online events to engage with fans, interact with them and give the latest information regarding their training progress.
At the time of the partnership’s launch,LEON’s Brand Communications Director stated that LEON’s objective is to help young athletes and make sure emerging athletes are supported.
In the statement it the Brand Communications Director for LEON also said that as a company they know how difficult it is and how much effort each athlete puts in to become a top fighter and that the aim of the sponsorship is to inspire LEON’s audience to help them believe in their dreams and work hard to get to their own goals.
LEON has always supported MMA, which is among the most popular of its sports betting offerings. In fact, one of LEON’s welcome offers brings fans free MMA bets giving them a chance to unleash their inner warrior.
Hakaraia Wilson’s MMA Career
Born in 1998, Wilson, born Te Hakaraia O Te Rangi Wilson, started his career in MMA in 2020.
From a young age Wilson trained in martial arts, where he first started learning the traditional Māori martial arts of Mau rākau that is based on Māori weapons. He then moved on to Jiu-Jitsu, followed by boxing and karate, as well as kickboxing.
The young MMA fighter who trained with Soma Fight Club in Bali, moved to the United States during the pandemic.
Wilson, whose professional MMA fight record stood at 4-3-0, was ranked #737 in his weight class and ranked #91 for the Welterweight class.
Sudden Death of a Young & Talented Fighter
The global MMA community paid tribute to the young Hakaraia Wilson with the Oliver MMA gym posting on Instagram that Hakaraia Wilson’s legacy will continue to live on in each of its members and also said that the smile and laughter, as well as Wilson’s warmth and warrior spirit will also live on in them. As a final send-off, the post by this gym based in Auckland concluded by telling Wilson to rest easy and that although his time in the world was too short, it still left a mark that will never go away.