Rodrigo De Lima, a 28-year-old UFC veteran, has died, after an unfortunate accident in Brazil. According to reports, the mixed martial artist died after a fatal hit-and-run in his home country. The news was first reported by Brazilian newspaper, O Liberal.
From MMAFighting.com:
UFC welterweight Michel Prazeres, a longtime friend and teammate of “Monstro”, told MMA Fighting on Monday morning that the 26-year-old fighter was inside a car with a few friends when he started arguing with the driver. The driver allegedly stopped the car, Prazeres said, and they got in an altercation before the man drove away, came back and allegedly hit de Lima from behind with his car. de Lima was married and had two kids. According to Prazeres, the police are currently searching for the driver. Multiple local newspaper reports confirm Prazeres’ account.
The suspect in the incident has been identified as Jefferson Roger Maciel Barata.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bac8DkmnAhi/
De Lima’s longtime friend, UFC fighter Michel Prazeres, echoed the allegations that an altercation with an Uber driver resulted in De Lima’s death.
“Everyone who was there said Rodrigo had an argument with the Uber driver and that, after that, the driver got in the car and ran over my friend.” Prazeres said. “I haven’t been able to grasp this yet. (Prazeres’) mom, Socorro, who’s also our mom, called in desperation last night saying an accident with Rodrigo had happened. I was about ready to go to bed. I just put on some clothes and went to see what happened. When I arrived there, I saw it all. It was very sad. It hasn’t sunk in yet. He was at my place to talk about jiu-jitsu on Friday.”
De Lima held a professional overall record of 9-3, 1 NC. “Monstro” struggled in the UFC, going 0-2 with losses to Neil Magny and Efrain Escudero, but held a win over Luiz Fabiano at Shooto Brazil 85 in his most recent outing on June 29, 2018. De Lima had scored a first-round rear-naked choke submission victory over his opponent.
