(Photo via Getty)
Crappy story coming out of Rio today, ‘Taters. Yan Cabral, the teammate of UFC champs Jose Aldo and Renan Barao who made an impressive debut for the promotion Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 29, was robbed at gunpoint just two days later near his Nova Uniao gym in Rio. MMA Fighting‘s Guilherme Cruz first reported this story in the states.
The robbers either got real lucky or were following Cabral for some time as the undefeated Brazilian welterweight was coming from the bank where he had taken out money to pay manager and head coach Andre Pederneiras. Two men with guns pulled up on motorcycle, pointed a gun at Cabral’s head and took his backpack, containing his training gear and cash. Fortunately, Cabral was not injured during the robbery.
“I’ve lived in Rio 15 years and this never happened,” Cabral told O Dia. “It was a big shock.”
The TUF: Brazil 2 cast-member had been without a professional fight for nearly two years — dating back to his submission win against Kazushi Sakuraba at DREAM 17 in September 2011 — in part because of a broken hand. He finally made a successful UFC debut in his home country, only to be robbed of some of the earnings of that win only days later near his own gym in his own city.
Hopefully the UFC goes above and beyond with Cabral and sends a little extra cash the guy’s way so he can pay his manager and trainer.