Longtime MMA veteran Geronimo dos Santos, 45, was missing after going for a swim on the Negro river in Amazon, and his body was found Monday morning by divers of the Amazonas fire department.
The search team found “Mondragon” trapped under rocks on bottom of Negro river, one the world’s largest rivers, according to a report from local news outlets.
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Dos Santos last competed in combat sports in April, scoring a major upset in BKFC with a first-round knockout over UFC veteran Aleksei Oleinik. The 6-foot-3 heavyweight was then slated to face Andrei Arlovski in June, but eventually withdrew from the match.
“Mondragon” fought 72 times in MMA, scoring 45 victories against the likes of Dion Staring, Antonio Mendes, Ildemar Alcantara and Assuerio Silva. He has also shared rings and cages with notable heavyweights like Josh Barnett, Junior dos Santos, Sergei Kharitonov and Vitaly Minakov.
The Brazilian athlete signed with the UFC in 2012 to be part of UFC 153, facing off with Gabriel Gonzaga in Rio de Janeiro, but he was forced off the lineup after a positive test for hepatitis B. Dos Santos parted ways with the promotion two years later after failing to be cleared by North American commissions.
