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Diego Brandao leaps over cage in anger at Fight Nights Global 73

By Raphael Garcia

Fighters square off inside the octagon during their bout at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night at Cotai Arena, inside the Venetian Macao resort and casino, operated by Sands China Ltd., a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp., in Macau, China, on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. UFC, the largest pay-per-view event provider, broadcasts to more than 800 million homes worldwide. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Fighters square off inside the octagon during their bout at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night at Cotai Arena, inside the Venetian Macao resort and casino, operated by Sands China Ltd., a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp., in Macau, China, on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. UFC, the largest pay-per-view event provider, broadcasts to more than 800 million homes worldwide. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images /
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Diego Brandao jumped over the cage at Fight Nights Global 73, ending his fight via retirement.

Brazilian mixed martial artist Diego Brandao is an interesting character in the world of mixed martial arts. The former UFC competitor added another layer of mystery to his persona with a bizarre situation at Fight Nights Global 73.

Since leaving the UFC in 2016 due to a felony arrest, Brandao has been on a run, winning two straight fights. The clip of him hitting a helicopter armbar on Murad Machaev is one of the top submissions in 2017. However, his win streak ended in the oddest of fashions in a wild scene in Kaspiysk, Dagestan.

Brandao was facing Akhmed Aliev at Fight Nights Global 73 in the main event of the night. Things got tense at the 3:34 mark of the fight when the fight was stopped because Aliev landed a head-butt on Brandao in the chest, which Brandao responded with an illegal up-kick to his opponent as the referee got in between them.

Brandao became enraged and jumped over the cage, walking away from the fight. Fight fans in attendance responded by throwing bottles into the cage. Brandao returned to the cage but the fight could not be restarted, resulting in him losing via retirement. The odd scene left everyone perplexed and upset with how the card ended.

This loss pushed Brandao’s record to 22-12, while Aliev improved to 16-4. This is the biggest win of Aliev’s career and Brandao was the first Brazilian athlete to win The Ultimate Fighter and has wins over Dennis Bermudez, Jim Hettes, Pablo Garza and others while competing in the UFC.

Brandao’s countrymen, Fabio Maldonado and Rousimar Palhares were also competing on the card. Palhares would take home a controversial split decision defeat at the hands of Shamil Amirov. Maldonado defeated Kurban Omarov via submission, his first submission since 2010, ending a four-fight losing streak.