A Florida man chose the wrong dude to threaten in a Cutler Bay parking lot at 4 a.m. on November 1.
According to arrest records, Omar Marrero, 50, was walking around the parking lot with a 14-inch knife, and when he saw a man sitting in a car, he went over and began knocking on the glass and harassing the occupant.
It was a fateful error.
It turned out Marrero was knocking on the window of 34-year-old ex-MMA fighter Javier Baez, and Mr. Baez was not at all amused by Marrero’s antics.
Surveillance video shows a man identified as Marrero rushing Baez before the former grappler lifts the man into the air and slams him hard to the concrete. Baez then reportedly disarmed the man and held him for the police.
“You train so many times that it becomes just a reflex,” Baez said, according to WPLG-TV.
“Once I started putting the choke in, he kind of just let it go because no one is worried about anything else but breathing when you’re losing air,” the fighter added. “I was able to hold him down with my knee and call the cops, and he woke up, cops came, and it was good, easy peasy!”
Baez said he had a few scratches but no serious injuries.
“Once it came to that, it’s all instincts. I couldn’t do much but just react,” he explained. “I’ve been training my whole life — black belt jiu-jitsu, wrestled in college, I’ve got eight pro fights, MMA masters. I’ve got great training partners.”
As to the unlucky attacker, he was arrested and charged with one count each of burglary with assault or battery and aggravated battery.
Marrero was being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
As to Baez, he can add one more stat to his record. During his 2011-2018 MMA career, Baez had a 5-2-1 record with appearances in several Florida regional promotions.
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