An MMA fighter who became a high-profile anti-violence activist has been found guilty of murdering a dad he believed was connected to his son’s death — just moments after he left one of his own anti-gun rallies.
Lumumba Sayers Sr., 47, was convicted of second-degree murder on Monday for gunning down Malcolm Watson, 28, at a birthday party for Watson’s five-year-old son in a park in Commerce City, just outside of Denver, in Aug. 2024.
Prosecutors argued that Sayers Sr. killed Watson because he believed he was involved in a 2023 mass shooting that killed the MMA fighter’s son, Lumumba Sayers Jr., the Denver Post reported.
Sayers Sr. ran his son’s anti-violence foundation, “Gloves Up Guns Down: Get Your Heads Up in the Hood” — and went straight from the rally to Watson’s son’s party, where he shot him at close range.
Other witnesses at the party had also been at the earlier shooting in which the fighter’s son was killed. They included Sayer Sr.’s daughter and the mother of Watson’s children, both of whom were injured in the first shooting in the supposed tit-for-tat attacks.
Tyrell Braxton, 24, was arrested for the shooting that left Sayers Jr. dead and was sentenced in 2025 to over 16 years in prison, KDVR reported. Watson was a friend of Braxton’s and Sayers Sr. wanted revenge, witnesses said.
Sayers Sr. was charged with first-degree murder, which would have led to a mandatory sentence of life in prison. But the jury acquitted him of that and instead found him guilty of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and attempted tampering with evidence.
The 6-foot, 185-pound founder finished his professional MMA career with a 6-5 record.
