7 posts / 0 new
Last post
AllyWhytock
AllyWhytock's picture
UFC veteran Maiquel Falcao attacked

UFC fighter Falcao is critically injured following a situation that appears to start as a result of his breach of the someone's personal space. My observation is that ego and possibly alcohol has a part to play. However, it escalates quickly and at the end the result is tragic.

Bye,

Ally

Th0mas
Th0mas's picture

Taking the tragedy and emotion out of the situation and looking at it from a pragmatic self protection perspective...

Falcao got sucker punched right at the start as he was "facing off". He was lucky not to drop after that and certainly he looked very wobbly on his feet.

What was interesting is that he looked like a fish out of water (he may have been suffering the after affects of the sucker punch, or a combination of drugs and alcohol) but I wounder if the old adage "you train as you would fight" had not prepared him for dealing with this type of situation. Just because he is a professional fighter who would be very effective in the ring, that may not translate very well to the situation we see in the video. He certainly made some poor tactical errors (from what I could see in the video) ... and clearly failed from a self-protection perspective.

(caveat: I don't know the background of the situation, I can't speak the language and I only have the video I watched to go on...but If we didn't take some risks of posting ill-informed clap trap..the forum would be much quieter smiley

Black Tiger
Black Tiger's picture

What a sad end, just shows that life throws things at you you don't expect.

What's annoying is that "streetfighters" with sticks (who've probably had no Martial Arts training) beat him down then the others just picked him off at will.

Shows no rules, no Referees in the street, can't understand the kicks to the head etc when the guy is out cold, I would deem that a attempted manslaughter.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Hi All,

IMPORTANT: I think I should warn that the above video shows graphic real life violence and hence minors and those of a sensitive disposition should not watch.

AllyWhytock wrote:
UFC fighter Falcao is critically injured following a situation that appears to start as a result of his breach of the someone's personal space.

According to the MMA mania website it was Falco’s friend, Kaue Mena, who got critically injured (see below). I think we also need to be sensitive in the way we discuss this. I’m sure all will agree what happened is tragic, avoidable and unnecessary. I’m sure all will also hope that Kaue Mena makes a full recovery.

As to regards what could be learnt from this, my main observation would be that the video does illustrate that the way we conduct ourselves (particularly what happens at 18 seconds) can be of greater importance than fighting skills when it comes to self-protection. To be become a “target” the enemy needs three things: means, motive and opportunity. In this instance, it seems that a “motive” was provided by Falcao lashing out at the female.

The first punch (ineffective as it was) was landed on Falco at 24 seconds and by the person to the side of him; as opposed to the one he was looking at. Perhaps some lessons for us there about the need to maintain space (use a “fence” or similar) and to endeavour to be aware of all threats.

Not speaking Portuguese (?), I’m unsure what happened to Falco and his other associates. At 58 seconds in looks like Falco gets hit by weapon and you can see his foot as he falls out frame. The foot is pointing upward, so I guess he got KO’d by the weapon too? Whatever happened, Kaue Mena is left on his own while unconscious and suffers a savage beating as a result. While no direct lessons can be drawn from this clip as to why he ended up alone, it does show there can be a need to protect others in group situations (if possible, and it may not have been in this case). I think training in the tactics needed to protect friends and loved ones should be part of “self”-protection training.

The effectiveness of weapons – even when clumsily wielded against highly trained people – is also another obvious lesson.

Above all though, as mentioned earlier, it does show that how someone conducts themselves is of more importance than physical skill when it comes to keeping ourselves safe from violence.

All the best,

Iain

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/7/8/4504610/video-ufc-bellator-veteran-maiquel-falcao-knocked-out-by-2x4-in-wild

MMAMania.com wrote: Recent Bellator Middleweight title challenger Maiquel Falcao got more than he bargained for at a gas station in Brazil. According to footage uncovered by Band Santa Catarina, 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 2x4 and viciously battered with follow-up strikes and kicks to the head on the ground. According to Bloody Elbow, he is still in critical condition at the intensive care unit of Hospital do Coração.

Falcao competed once in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), defeating Gerald Harris before his release due to trouble with the law back home (shocking). He was picked up by Bellator and proceeded to win the season six middleweight tournament. In his most recent effort, he came up short against Alexander Shlemenko in a title fight, losing via second round knockout at Bellator 88 this past February.

AllyWhytock
AllyWhytock's picture

Hello All,

Thanks for all the caveats, pointers & corrections. Noted for the future. Apologies if anyone was upset.

The scenario captured by the video re-inforces what I've seen throughout my younger life. Having lived opposite a pub throughout my childhood and teenage years I've repeatedly seen this type situation, escalation and level of violence. This has made me think now that as a youngster I was de-sensitised to this type of environment. Perhaps there is an element of truth to the view that exposure to violence and violent environment cause desensitisation.

Perhaps character traits, personality traits and behaviour are amplified by opportunity, environment and situation. My policy is to not be in that situation and to avoid people who show these character traits.

Cheers, Ally

ky0han
ky0han's picture

Hi everyone,

Iain Abernethy wrote:
Above all though, as mentioned earlier, it does show that how someone conducts themselves is of more importance than physical skill when it comes to keeping ourselves safe from violence.

In regards of Iains last podcast it seems to me that his actions had a very bad influence on his fate and on that of his friends and associates. It maybe alters his whole MMA career in a negative way due to psychological/emotional damages sustained in that altercation. All because of one moment of silliness. I hope he learned a thing or two and that his friend will recover from such an outburst of violence.

Regards Holger

Jon Jepson
Jon Jepson's picture

Just to add my thoughts on this ,

 Whatever the right or wrong of this , my best wishes and thoughts go out to Falcao and Mena .

Regards

Jon