Former UFC featherweight Suman Mokhtarian was found dead Wednesday following a shooting in Riverstone, New South Wales, Australia.
New South Wales police confirmed the shooting took place around 6 p.m. local time, with Mokhtarian being shot in the upper torso by an unidentified gunman. Despite revival attempts on the scene by paramedics, Mokhtarian, 33, failed to pull through. Police didn’t publicly identify Mokhtarian as the victim of the crime, however reports from The Daily Telegraph followed and were publicly confirmed by members of Mokhtarian’s gym, Australian Top Team.
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Police believe the attack was a targeted incident, as they continue to seek out the gunman. Around the same time as the shooting, New South Wales emergency services received two reports regarding vehicles that were set on fire in the area. There’s no indication yet as to whether the occurrences are related; however, police matched one of the vehicles, a red Audi, to the description of the shooter’s car.
Mokhtarian had faced previous attempts on his life. Noa Touma, 21, allegedly attempted to kill the former UFC fighter outside of the Australian Top Team gym in February 2024. Touma, disguised as a delivery driver, reportedly fired a pistol at close range following a children’s class. Police arrested Touma before he was released on bail.
In April, Australian MMA promotion Dark Matter Fighting Championship was scheduled to hold its inaugural event, with Mokhtarian expected to coach several fighters on the card. Ultimately, New South Wales police canceled the show, citing fears of a gang-related murder attempt on Mokhtarian.
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Mokhtarian went 8-2 in his MMA career, building his name off an undefeated run in his first seven bouts on the Australian gregional scene to earn an opportunity on “The Ultimate Fighter 27” in 2018. Despite suffering a loss to Ricky Steele on the long-running reality fight series, Mokhtarian was signed to the UFC and fought twice. He lost his lone two bouts in the Octagon against Sodiq Yusuff and Seung Woo Choi, the latter of which came in December 2019.
Mokhtarian was released after the Choi loss, which ultimately marked his final MMA fight.
