Family of Salisbury martial arts fighter raise concerns over opponent size after fatal fight
At the inquest of Saeideh Aletaha's death, her brothers claim the counterpart "seemed bigger and more muscled"
Last updated 6th Sep 2021
The family of an amateur martial arts fighter who died following a match have raised concerns over the size of her opponent.
Saeideh Aletaha was injured while competing in an event called the Fast And Furious Fight Series in Southampton on November 16, 2019.
She was taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition after she collapsed at the Central Hall venue, and died the following day.
Her family say her counterpart in the bout "seemed bigger and more muscled" than 26-year-old Ms Aletaha.
However an inquest into her death on Monday heard that she and her opponent weighed in at similar amounts.
Ms Aletaha, who lived in Salisbury in Wiltshire, died at Southampton General Hospital.
In a statement read out at the inquest, Ms Aletaha's family paid tribute to her as "a breath of fresh air bringing sunshine".
They added: "Saeideh was always patient and the type of person who would help anyone with anything but would never ask anyone for a favour.
"Her dedication to her work, sport and being healthy and physically and mentally fit is something that everybody admired about her.
"It was very devastating for her family to lose Saeideh alone and so far away in such an accident."
Richard Harding, promoter of the Fast And Furious Fight Series, said the matchmaking - pairing up fighters - was the "most important" part of the show.
He told the inquest that Ms Aletaha and her opponent were of similar height and had similar reach.
Mr Harding said Ms Aletaha was slightly slimmer, with her counterpart wider in the shoulders.
Addressing what happened, he said: "Losing someone like this is very hard for everyone.
"This is the absolute worst thing that could happen but I am fully confident that we did as much as we could."
The coroner was told that there was as little as 100g separating the two fighters' weights at the weigh-in.
The inquest continues.