Former UFC fighter Felipe Colares died Monday morning in Brazil at age 29, his coach told Brazilian MMA site Combate.
Colares was returning from training at his gym in Rio de Janeiro when he was hit by a bus, his coach, Rodrigo Balbi, said. According to Balbi, the fighter was alive when rescued by the fire department, but he died on the way to the hospital due to serious injuries suffered when he was hit.
In January, Colares made news when he stopped an alleged robbery by neutralizing the suspect with Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
In addition to his career as a fighter, Colares worked as a coordinator for a government program called Empoderadas, which was created to raise awareness of violence against women and teach self-defense.
"Felipe made a tremendous contribution with his experience as a multi-champion athlete helping us develop techniques to prevent and cope with violence against women," a post written on Empoderadas' Instagram account Monday said.
Colares was 11-4 as a pro MMA fighter, last competing in February at Ares FC 12 in Paris. He fought in the UFC from 2019 to 2022 before being released last year following a loss to Chase Hooper.