The death of 26-year-old mixed martial arts star Hakaria Wilson has thrown the sport into mourning after he passed away in New Zealand last Wednesday.

Wilson, who boasted a record of four wins and three losses as a professional, was in Gisborne in the country’s North Island when he died and was there to attend the Rhythm and Vines music festival.

Police found his body when they were called to attend to a sudden death, with a spokesperson saying, ‘The death is not suspicious and has been referred to the coroner.’

Wilson had his most recent fight on October 27 last year, beating Mark Alcoba by technical knockout in Bali.

He revealed he’d had a successful operation in an Instagram post six weeks ago, writing, ‘Surgery done. Be back asap.’ 

Hakaria Wilson (pictured left in his last fight) has died aged 26 in New Zealand

The Kiwi star had recently revealed he’d had successful surgery. Police have announced they are not treating his death as suspicious

The Kiwi star had been recently based in the States and had made a lot of friends in the MMA community.

Tributes for Wilson flooded social media once the news was announced.

‘Fly high brother,’ posted UFC star Dan Hooker alongside a photo of Wilson.

‘Heartbreaking!’ posted UFC contender Kai Kara-France. ‘Fly high my Maori. Too many of our young tane taken too soon.’

UFC light heavyweight star Carlos Ulberg simply posted a photo of Wilson celebrating after he’d won a bout. 

In a 2020, Wilson told Te Ao Māori News that his dad helped get him into the sport.

‘He was a fighter back in the day and, as I was growing up, I’d go to his training and watch him,’ he said.

‘From then I knew what I wanted to do and so, without my dad I probably wouldn’t have chosen to do this sport.’

More to come…