A New York-based MMA fighter earned praise on social media after he neutralized a homeless person who assaulted an unsuspecting victim.
The fighter, Ro Malabanan, said he was on his way to work when saw the attacker, who was later identified as Samuel Frazier, sucker-punch a construction worker in Manhattan's SoHo shopping district. At that point, the Filipino-American sprang into action to subdue Frazier.
He later posted videos of the incident on his personal Instagram page for the public to see. Frazier claimed that the construction worker came at him, but Malabanan said he saw an unprovoked assault.
Check out the video below:
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Following his heroic actions, social media users flooded Malabanan's comments section with positive vibes. Check out the best comments below:
One commenter, who goes by the handle @themenyc, compared Malabanan to UFC welterweight standout Kevin Holland. During his time off, 'The Trailblazer' acts as Houston, Texas' resident crime fighter.
So far, Holland has chased down a carnapper, neutralized a gunman, saved a trucker whose vehicle tipped over, and returned stolen goods to a local store.
Most social media users agreed that Malabanan did a tremendous job holding the attacker down. Several commenters also called him a hero for helping out a fellow in need.
One even claimed to have been inspired by Malabanan and said she's going back to taking Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) classes. Malabanan is apparently a BJJ black belt under under Marcelo Garcia.
MMA fighter Ro Malabanan comments on the incident
Once the dust had settled, Ro Malabanan explained to his Instagram followers what exactly went down. The 44-year-old recorded a video of himself saying:
“My jiu-jitsu instincts just kicked in. I jumped on his back. He tried to swing me off then – but for those of you in the know – a seatbelt position dragged him down to the floor, and I immediately took his back and pinned him to the ground."
An initial police investigation by the New York Police Department (NYPD) found that Samuel Frazier unloaded an "unprovoked" assault on a 50-year-old man and a 17-year-old lad.