Former MMA fighter found dead after disappearing while diving

The world of MMA had a sad Monday (15). The body of fighter Gerônimo dos Santos was found after disappearing in the Rio Negro, in the region of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in Amazonas.

It was Rony Moraes, deputy secretary for planning of the municipality, who announced the death of “Mondragon”, who worked at the local town hall as deputy secretary for Public Security. However, further details of the case have not yet been revealed and are awaiting investigation by relevant bodies.

According to information from Ag. Combat site, Gerônimo was last seen on Saturday (13), on a beach in Rio Negro. The veteran was in a shallow water area of ​​the river when he went for a swim. From that moment on, he was no longer seen, which triggered a search by firefighters to find him.

In social media posts, Mondragon’s brother Feliciano Borges Neto commented on the search for the former MMA fighter over the weekend, but with no sign of his whereabouts. Specialized divers have been used in situations like this. It was not until Monday morning that Gerônimo’s body was found. According to information from Rede Amazônica, the former fighter was found about 2 km from where he was last seen before his disappearance.

Gerônimo Mondragon was one of the biggest names in the Brazilian MMA scene. Since the mid-2000s, the heavyweight has been a professional in the sport and has had a long career that has given him a record of 45 wins, 26 losses and one draw, which helped him get noticed by the UFC, who eventually signed him, but that did not materialize after that.

The Brazilian, born in Feira de Santana (Bahia), has defended organizations such as Rizin and ACA and has on his record important fighters in fights in Brazil and around the world, such as Júnior Cigano, Zuluzinho, Josh Barnett, Aleksander Emelianenko, Sergei Kharitonov and Aleksey Oleynik, it is his last rival, whom he beat in April in a bare-knuckle boxing match in Dubai.