UFC and Bellator veteran Maiquel Falcao has sadly been stabbed to death in Brazil. The Brazilian fighter managed to put together a fantastic 25-3 (1) professional record in order to earn his callup to the UFC and he won his promotional debut against Gerald Harris in impressive fashion back in 2010. Just a matter of days later, he was arrested for an assault that he committed against a woman outside a nightclub in 2022 and was sentenced to 2 years, although he only served 8 months in prison before being placed under house arrest instead. The UFC ended up parting ways with him as a result of this and he went back to fighting on the regional circuit instead.
After going 2-1 in smaller promotions, Bellator decided to take a chance on the talented fighter and it seemed to pay off when he won the season six Middleweight tournament. He earned the right to face reigning champion Alexander Shlemenko but was knocked out in the second round. A few months after his unsuccessful title-fight, Falcao was involved in a brawl at a gas station alongside one of his teammates that started as a result of another assault that he committed against a woman. Both he and his teammate were then expelled from the gym that they trained at, and his teammate was forced to retire from the sport altogether as a result of the devastating injuries he suffered.
The sequence of events surrounding this interaction that Maiquel Falcao had with police has been described by MMAFighting, who paint a grim picture of the brawl that led to him being cut by Bellator and effectively served as a death sentence for his professional career at the highest levels:
“The situation was instigated when Falcao approached a female at the counter. Whatever he said was not appreciated and Falcao played with fire by throwing his beverage at her as she walked away. It all leads up to a huge confrontation where several other men showed up to defend the lady’s honor, sparking a huge brawl. Falcao is seen blasting several people inside and then the film cuts to outside where the street fight continues, and this time with weapons. Falcao’s friend and fellow mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Kaue Mena (7-0 1 NC) is then leveled with a 2×4 and viciously battered with follow-up strikes and kicks to the head on the ground.”
Falcao continued to compete after the brawl and was relegated to competing on the local Brazilian circuit, or the slightly larger eastern European promotions like KSW and Fight Nights Global. He ended up going 40-19 (1) across a lengthy career and on Sunday, the veteran fighter was stabbed multiple times outside a bar in his hometown of Pelotas, Brazil. Maiquel Falcao was rushed to hospital at around 3am but succumbed to his injuries in the end, with Brazilian police currently investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
