First, Midwest Fighters Focus is honored and humbled to be the source of this release, as it has not been made public anywhere else. As most know, Tree passed on to another arena after his last bout in the cage. Many words could be said or spoken here, but they will not. The Kirkham family through CJ Encheff chose MFF to release their thoughts and feelings, so here are their words regarding much more than just the passing of Mike Kirkham.
From the Kirkhams...
"On behalf of Michael Kirkham's family, we would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes. We would like everyone to know a little bit about who Michael Kirkham was. He was a loving and caring son, brother, fiance, father and friend. Michael never met a stranger. Everyone to him was just a friend he hadn't met, yet.
He was a talented musician and artist. He loved the MMA with a passion and was following his dream. To those who say he was cutting weight in order to be a 6'9” tall lightweight, that couldn't be farther from the truth! He has always been tall and skinny with a very high metabolism. We do not hold his opponent on Saturday responsible for this! They were both in that cage doing what they were trained to do.
This was just a tragedy and was in no way the other fighters fault. We hope he goes on to be one of the best in this sport. We also hope that this does not become an argument for trying to ban the sport that Michael so dearly loved! He would not want his name to be used for that purpose!!
Michael loved this sport, his family and his friends, and would do anything he could for any of the three. There has been a memorial fund set up in Michael's name to help his family to make sure his children are taken care of. If you would like to donate to this fund, please go to:
WWW.MichaelKirkhamMemorialFund.viviti.com .
A memorial service will be held Friday for his family and friends. Please respect the wishes of the family and remember that Michael was not just a news story, he was a real person with friends and family who loved him! Again, we thank everyone for their love and support."
The Kirkham Family
God's Blessings.
