Brazilian police officer Paulo Thiago landed without his consciousness at UFC on Fuel last Saturday. Photo: UFC publicity.
Caught by surprise just 42 seconds into his encounter with Siyar Bahadurzada, Paulo Thiago hit the ground unconscious at UFC on Fuel TV last Saturday in Stockholm. The officer on Brazil’s elite police force BOPE took a hook to the tip of the chin and crashed to the canvas, resulting in a long hospital stay thereafter. When such potent blows like this occur, the UFC requires that fighters go through a complete battery of exams to be sure no serious injury was incurred.
His teacher, Ataide Junior, discussed his preparations and the lessons that come with such misfortune.
“BAD LUCK”
“There’s no way to analyze a fight like this. Paulo was really well trained and physically well prepared. I’m positive he was in his best shape. He had the bad luck of the punch landing, and right at the beginning of the fight. That, everyone saw. The important thing is that he’s fine. We did all the exams the UFC asked for, and thank God nothing came back. Now we’re going to wait on the promotion’s decision as to how long he’ll be out of action. We’re already anxious about getting him his next fight. I don’t mean to discredit his opponent, but there was no fight,” said the coach and Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
The Afghan fighter himself was surprised by the outcome. “I really wanted to win this fight, but it never occurred to me it would go like that,” said Siyar.
Now Paulo Thiago will fulfill some other commitments in Europe before returning home to the Brazilian capital of Brasilia to pick up training again and get ready for his next obligations. What do you think, gentle reader, was it more Paulo Thiago’s mistake, or does the revelation from Afghanistan deserve all the credit. Share your take on what happened, in the comments field below.
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