Report: Ex-UFC, Bellator fighter Maiquel Falcao killed in Brazil stabbing

Former MMA fighter Maiquel Falcao was stabbed to death in his home country of Brazil early Sunday.

According to a report from Brazilian news outlet Gaucha ZH, Falcao was stabbed in the stomach multiple times outside a bar in his home city of Pelotas. Falcao reportedly was taken to the hospital, but did not survive.

The case is under investigation, according to the report. Falcao was 40.

Falco’s MMA career started in 2004, and he fought exclusively in Brazil until he signed with the UFC. In November 2010, Falcao beat Gerald Harris with a unanimous decision at UFC 123. It was his only fight with the promotion.

A few days later, Falcao was arrested in Brazil for a 2002 incident in which he assaulted a woman outside a club. He served eight months of a 24-month sentence, but was arrested after moving to a new home that authorities said was a violation of his house arrest.

Falcao was booked for two UFC fights after that. In January 2011, he pulled out with an injury. And later that year, the UFC released him. Two years later, UFC president Dana White said it was because of Falcao’s incident for assaulting a woman.

In March 2012, Falcao signed with Bellator and won the promotion’s Season 6 middleweight tournament. He got a shot at then-champion Alexander Shlemenko in February 2013, but was knocked out in the second round.

The outside-the-cage trouble continued for Falcao after that with another alleged assault of a woman in an incident at a gas station in Brazil. Falcao and a teammate were beaten up after Falcao allegedly assaulted a female when he said she called him racial slurs.

Bellator released him in the wake of the gas station incident. He was 31-5 at the time. The MMA road was a tough one for Falcao after that. He went 9-14 over a nearly six-year stretch, including fights for KSW and Fight Nights Global. He lost seven of his final eight fights. His lone win was for the vacant Serbian Battle Championship light heavyweight title in May 2019, which he won with a first-round TKO of 13-fight UFC veteran Igor Pokrajac. He lost the title to him later that year.