TRIBUTES have poured in for a “kind and generous” amateur kickboxer who died after suffering an injury during a bout in Southampton.

Saeideh Aletaha was rushed to hospital after suffering a brain injury and collapsing during the Fast and Furious Fight Series event at Central Hall on Saturday.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the 26-year-old, whose injury was described as life-threatening, later died in hospital.

Now tributes have been paid to Ms Aletaha, who worked as a product design engineer at Hampshire-based firm Stannah Stairlifts.

Her manager, Andreas Szentistvany, said: “Saeideh was a kind, generous and talented designer full of life and passion in everything she did.

“She brought great warmth and fun to us all, her loss will be profoundly felt by her many friends and colleagues at Stannah, which has lost a genuine young talent.”

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Ms Aletaha’s kickboxing team, Lookbari Gym, based at Exile Gym in Shirley, also paid tribute in a joint statement with Exile.

They said: “Saeideh was a lovely character with a beautiful soul.

“She found her place with us just a few months ago but has become apart of the family and will be sorely missed.”

A friend and teammate of Ms Aletaha described her on Facebook as someone who “brought joy to all who crossed her path”, while Stonehenge CrossFit, where she had been a member for three years, described her as “popular, kind and liked by everyone in the community”.

Organisers Fast and Furious Fight Series said it had organised full medical cover throughout the evening, with a doctor, paramedic and ambulance on site.

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In a statement, they said: “We also had a an experienced team of staff with numerous first aiders, safety is not something ever skimped on in any of our 19 shows.”

One person to comment on news of Ms Aletaha’s death was retired mixed martial arts fighter Doctor Rosi Sexton – the first British female fighter to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Dr Sexton, who noted the presence of medical staff at the event, said: “Whenever something like this happens, in any sport, it’s important to look at whether any lessons can be learned to make things safer in the future - and I am sure that will happen in due course.

“Any contact sport carries an element of risk. It is important that those of us involved in those sports do our utmost to minimise those risks to the participants; but unfortunately it is impossible to reduce them to zero. That’s something that we all recognise when we step into the ring or the cage.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said Ms Aletaha’s death was not being treated as suspicious and that a file was being prepared for the coroner.