The Asia Fighting Championship has issued an official statement at around 2am on Sept. 24.

This is following the passing of Pradip Subramanian following his exhibition fight with Steven Lim several hours earlier on Saturday night.

The official statement said Pradip passed away at the Singapore General Hospital at 9pm on Sept. 23. The cause of death has yet to be ascertained.

This is the statement in full:

We are deeply saddened to share the news that Mr. Pradip Subramanian, Exhibition Match-Up fighter and President of the World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation of Singapore (WBPF) has passed away at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) on 23rd September 2017 at 21:00 hrs.

We are in close contact with the medical staff at the hospital to ascertain the cause of death and request that during this difficult time we should come together and extend our support to Mr. Subramanian's family, friends and associates and refrain from any speculation.

An official press conference/statement will be held in due course.

Mr. Subramanian's project, the AFC Physique Championships (APC) which is scheduled for 24th September 2017 will be cancelled as a mark of respect.

Steven Lim pays tribute

Pradip's opponent, Steven Lim, paid tribute via his Facebook page:

Both parties were debutants in the Muay Thai fighting sport, with Pradip viewed as the favourite as he has bodybuilding credentials.

How the match went

The match was scheduled for two rounds, each lasting two minutes.

Although Pradip seemed in better shape than Lim, he took several blows to the head during the match. The referee stopped the bout during the second round after Pradip was knocked down, and ended the match.

Lim was awarded the victory via technical knockout.

Pradip was helped to the back of the arena by medical officials following the fight.

Lim commented on an Instagram post immediately after the fight that Pradip had been taken to hospital.

At least one of Lim's initial social media posts celebrating his victory over Pradip was deleted after negative comments were left on them by the public.

The post featured photos of Lim holding his new champion belt.

Initial reactions to unconfirmed reports

The suddenness of the tragic news caught many members of the public by surprise.

Unofficial murmurings and unconfirmed reports of Pradip's passing first made the rounds on social media as early as 11pm, as several tribute posts appeared in succession.

Without any official word, some members of the public initially thought the news was a hoax.