Geronimo dos Santos, BKFC fighter, drowns in Brazil
Geronimo dos Santos, a long time competitor in professional mixed martial arts, had died.
The 45-year-old fighter known as “Mondragon” drowned Saturday morning after diving into the Rio Negro in the municipality of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
Feliciano Borges Neto, Mondragon’s brother, posted the news on the fighter’s social media pages.
According to the post, dos Santos was at the beach with his girlfriend. After taking photos, he decided to go for one last swim before returning home, around 10 a.m. According to Feliciano, dos Santos asked his girlfriend to fetch his things while he went into the river. Shortly after, he dove into a section with a deep hole and was swept away by the current.
According to Neto, his brother did not know how to swim. A report from Sherdog states, “Noticing the delay, his girlfriend looked back at the river and saw the fighter struggling and calling for help. A group in a nearby boat tried to approach, but when the fighter seemed close to being reached, he sank and didn’t resurface. The reported circumstances indicate that the location has dangerous characteristics, such as a steep drop-off at the bottom of the river. Hours after the incident, the Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira City Hall officially confirmed the disappearance.
“Rescue teams were called in and began searching Saturday afternoon. After almost 48 hours, dos Santos’ body was located on Monday morning. He was found a few kilometers from the drowning site, trapped between bushes and rocks, after being swept away by the current.”
The Brazilian fighter most recently competed in bare knuckle for BKFC, finishing former UFC heavyweight Aleksei Oleinik in the first-round in April.
Dos Santos has 71 fights in his career, and was signed to the UFC in 2012 but did not compete after tests revealed hepatitis B.
