Former UFC featherweight competitor Felipe Colares put his skills to work outside of the cage in order to stop a thief.
Sharing his story and a video of the incident on social media, Colares was witnessed holding down an alleged thief who was attempting to steal a phone from a woman in Rio de Janeiro.
“I went back to my car and went to the woman to check the situation, and indeed it was a robbery,” Colares wrote on Instagram. “My friends and I went back to the car and saw the man. After noticing he was unarmed, we intervened and managed to pin the robber using jiu-jitsu techniques.”
The man that Colares detained claimed to be the ex of the woman he was allegedly robbing. “Don’t call [the cops], man,” a bystander can be heard saying in the clip. “Let’s throw him at a ditch right there.”
Felipe Colares Does Not Recommend Putting Yourself in a Potentially Dangerous Situation Without Proper Training
Felipe Colares was able to use his extensive Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to control the man until authorities arrived. Despite his own intervention, Colares does not suggest putting yourself into a potentially dangerous situation without proper preparation.
“I don’t recommend unprepared people to do that,” he wrote, “but today I became one percent better.”
Colares (10-4-0) last competed inside the Octagon in May, suffering a third-round submission loss against Chase Hooper. He was released from the promotion shortly after, having gone 2-4 under the UFC banner between 2019 and 2022. Colares had earned victories over Domingo Pilarte and Luke Sanders before back-to-back losses resulted in his release last year.
Colares is scheduled for a return to action on February 12 for the Ares FC promotion where he will square off with 11-3 fighter Alioune Nahaye.