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Rory O'Callaghan
Former UFC and Bellator fighter Maiquel Falcao has reportedly been stabbed to death outside a bar in Brazil.
According to MMA Fighting, Falcao has died at the age of 40 after being attacked on Sunday morning in his hometown of Pelotas.
Falcao was stabbed multiple times during the attack and later died in hospital, according to Brazilian news outlet Gaucha ZH.
The case is now being investigated by Felix Rafanhim, from the Homicide and Protection of Persons Police Station (DHPP) in Pelotas.
“No witnesses have been named and we still don't have a motive,” Rafanhim told Gaucha ZH.
“Shards of glass were found next to the body, but we believe he was stabbed.”
Falcao competed for nearly two decades in professional MMA, compiling a record of 40-20 with one no contest.
He made his UFC debut in 2010 at UFC 123, beating Gerald Harris via a controversial unanimous decision.
He was released by the UFC the following year after he was convicted of assaulting a woman outside a nightclub in Brazil in 2002.
“We found out he had a charge on his record for hitting a woman, and we cut him because of that,” UFC president Dana White confirmed.
Falcao would join Bellator two years later, winning a middleweight grand prix tournament with three consecutive victories.
However, he would lose to Alexander Shlemenko in a middleweight title fight in 2013 before being released by the promotion later that year, after footage emerged of him being involved in a brawl outside a petrol station in Brazil.