A promising MMA fighter is fighting for his life in Auckland Hospital

Fau Vake is critically injured after being attacked in central Auckland in the early hours of Sunday morning, while waiting for a taxi.

He was hit from behind, in a manner which has prompted calls for harsher penalties for "coward punches".

Coach at City Kick Boxing Mike Angove says the risk from one of these punches is well known.

He says with all the media coverage of people who have died from this kind of attack, there's no one who's unaware of the implications.