Abeku Afful has suffered the worst injuries of any MMA German fighter these days. He was recently attacked with a machete at his gym in Hamburg. Afful suffered life threatening injuries when he was attacked around 10pm on May 18 by several masked men who had forced their way into his gym. One of the perpetrators was identified as his former MMA coach C. (35). Although the identity of the other individuals is unknown, police are investigating several leads. We are in close contact to Afful, who is still at the hospital and still unsure if he will ever walk again; let alone fight or work as a coach.
Afful’s injured leg is causing him unbearable pain. The perpetrators used a machete to cut deeply into his calf muscle. Afful successfully underwent emergency surgery to save his leg. Unfortunately, he has had to endure multiple surgeries since the initial emergency surgery.
In an interview on Sunday, Afful stated that he doesn’t know what his future holds but that he needs to get out of this bed. Afful’s only wish is to spend time with his family, who was also traumatized by the attack. Afful receives support from his family, fans from all over the country, and several athletes. Afful has had to discourage several people, who were frightened by the attack, from commiting crimes in this defense. Afful is appreciative of strangers and friends, who want to support and protect him, but he is confident that the legal authorities will capture and convict the remaining perpetrators.
Abeku Afful seemed very pensive and lost in thought during the interview. He is deeply saddened that C.‘s friends still support him in spite of his crimes. C.‘s friends are still standing by their leader. Afful cannot believe that adults apparently cannot think for themselves and would rather follow their own laws than the laws of society. The situation is very difficult for Afful because he has always lived for his sport. Despite his injuries, and the difficulties he endures he stated that no one can prevent him from following his dreams. Even the fact that he is no longer employed at the gym cannot stop him from reaching his goals.
There are people in the scene who have a lot of influence. Telling him they can take care of C.‘s students and follower so that they could never fight again. It helps him knowing that, but that’s not what he wants. He only wishes for them to think for themselves instead of supporting and trusting others. He is confident that the truth comes out, one way or the other. He is disappointed that there are manipulated people out there, who need some kind of „leader“ and who have lost their own willpower and are able to do such disgusting things. Especially the comments regarding the cancellation of the „Ravage Series“ (C.‘s event) on FB are terrible to read. In his opinion those people have lost their humanity. Afful needs to wait and see what his future is going to look like, but he is sure that karma comes back around and that he is the one who can still look himself in the eye every morning.
In addition to that he said that the incident planned by C. didn’t base on nationality or religion, but simply on his character.
It is unbelievable that the gym (not the Hammerbrook Gym in Hamburg) where Afful used to work at would let him go in his darkest hours. But because of this occurence the MMA fighting scene is again facing negative publicity and on September 3 when the UFC is coming to Germany, people will think about this horrible incident for sure, especially since the event is taking place in Hamburg this time.
