One day after Kimura Nova Uniao fighter Luiz de Franca was shot and murdered in Natal, another MMA fighter was brutally murdered in the city.
Guilherme “Kioto” Matos Rodrigues, a 30-year-old fighter from Pitbull Brothers team, was killed while he was in a juice shop with some teammates on Tuesday night. According to the police, two men approached in a motorcycle and shot at “Kioto”.
Rodrigues was rushed to the hospital, but he died during surgery.
Guilherme Matos Rodrigues and Luis de Franca were both murdered in Natal, the city that hosts UFC Fight Night 38 card on March 23.
“I can’t imagine why someone would do that to him,” Rodrigues’ teammate and Bellator fighter Patricio “Pitbull” Freire told MMAFighting.com on Wednesday. “He was a handsome guy, everybody knew who he was, so maybe someone was jealous of him.
“He trains with me for 12 years, and I never saw him getting trouble with anyone.”
“Kioto” (19-9) last fought inside the Jungle Fight cage on Dec. 7, when he defeated Joao Piccirillo via unanimous decision. The lightweight, who won four of his last five bouts, competed against some of the best fighters in the Brazilian circuit, including UFC veterans Ronys Torres, Iliarde Santos and John Teixeira da Conceicao.
The police have no suspects of the crime thus far, according to “Pitbull”.
“Guilherme was in the best time of his life now,” he said. “He just majored in Physical Education and kept fighting. Everything he did was work and train. I have no idea who would do a brutality like that to him.”