Geronimo dos Santos had 71 fights over the course of his MMA career. | Marcelo Alonso/Sherdog.com
Former heavyweight MMA veteran Geronimo “Mondragon” dos Santos drowned Saturday morning after diving into the Rio Negro in the municipality of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas state, Brazil.The information about the disappearance was first released on the athlete’s own social networks by his brother, Feliciano Borges Neto. According to the story, Mondragon was on the beach with his girlfriend. After taking pictures, he decided to go for a last swim before returning home around 10am. According to Neto, dos Santos asked his girlfriend to get his things while he went into the river. Shortly afterwards he dived into an area with a deep hole and was swept away by the current.
According to his brother, “Mondragon” could not swim. Noticing the delay, his girlfriend looked back toward the river and saw the hunter struggling and calling for help. A group in a nearby boat attempted to approach, but when the fighter appeared to be almost reached, it sank and did not resurface. The reported circumstances indicate that the site has dangerous features, such as a steep drop off at the bottom of the river. Hours after the incident, Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira City Hall officially confirmed the disappearance.
Rescue teams were called and began the search on Saturday afternoon. After almost 48 hours, Dos Santos’ body was located Monday morning. He was found a few kilometers from the drowning site, trapped among bushes and rocks, after being swept away by the current.
A memorable career and the UFC debut that wasn’t
A fully framed 265 pounds, “Mondragon” (44-26-1) had 71 MMA fights in his 18-year career. He faced many famous names in the sport, such as Junior dos Santos, Josh Barnett, Sergei Kharitonov, “Zuluzinho”, Vitaly Minakov and Assuerio Silva. The Brazilian heavyweight signed with the UFC in 2012, but his debut was canceled after tests revealed hepatitis B. Years later, he was released from the contract and continued to compete in national events. In April, the fighter had his last fight, knocking out UFC veteran Alexey Oleynik in a bare-knuckle boxing match in the opening round. After his retirement, “Mondragon” took on the role of Undersecretary of Public Security for the City of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira.
Geronimo dos Santos SLEEP Aleksei Oleinik with one punch!
#BKFC71 pic.twitter.com/centGohRbj— Matysek (@Matysek88)
April 4, 2025
The municipality of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira is located 852 kilometers from Manaus (the capital of Amazonas), near the Brazilian border with Colombia and Venezuela. Sao Gabriel is known for possessing one of the largest niobium reserves in the world (5.5 billion tons) and for its large indigenous population; nine out of ten residents are of indigenous descent.
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