A simple injury turned into a chaotic brawl between fighter and fans.
Erberth Santos suffered a knee injury early in his match against Felipe "Preguica" Pena during a BJJ Stars jiu-jitsu card in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday night. While being attended to, the former world champion appeared to arguewith someone in the crowd, quickly getting up from the mat and rushing the audience and igniting a brawl.
Just as it appeared Santos had calmed down and was restrained, he sprinted to the other side of the mat to attack more people. A fan landed hard on floor as he tried to escape Santos, who also went to ground. Pena ran over and appeared to kick Santos, who was then attacked by a group of people, akin to the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov after-match brawl.
BBJ Stars promoter Fernando Lopes told MMA Fighting that Santos is banned from competing with the promotion again because of his actions. Pena was declared the winner of the bout.
"[Santos] was provoked by someone in the crowd, who was cheering for Felipe or against him," Lopes told MMA Fighting.
"I'm a black belt for 21 years and an athlete has to be a black belt on and off the mat to deserve a black belt in my team. I wouldn't give a blue belt to an irresponsible man who fights in the street."
Pena was critical of Santos on his Instagram account.
"It's a shame what happened, despite the victory I'm sad with today," Pena wrote. "I got ready and I dedicated a lot to give a show for you and unfortunately ended unexpectedly! Sad, SPORT IS NOT THAT."
