Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian shot dead in ‘targeted attack’ in Sydney, police say

Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian was shot dead in a “brazen” shooting while taking an early evening walk in Sydney, police said, months after surviving an assassination attempt.

The 33-year-old man was shot dead in a “targeted” attack in Riverstone, a suburb in Sydney’s northwest, on Wednesday evening, New South Wales police said. He was treated by paramedics but died at the scene, police said.

Shortly after the shooting, two cars were found on fire in different locations, a feature of recent organized crime attacks that have rocked the city. Fire and rescue personnel extinguished the fire, police said.

“It’s very brazen and it’s unfortunate that this is happening in our community,” NSW Police Superintendent Jason Joyce said.

“You would think that in a residential area people could be walking the streets at this (early) time of night and be safe, but we believe this is a targeted attack,” he said.

Footage obtained by national broadcaster ABC shows the moments after a gunman opened fire on Mokhtarian. Several gunshots were heard when a small child was seen standing in an alley, a few feet from where Mokhtarian was killed, ABC reported.

Local media reported that Mokhtarian survived an assassination attempt last February, when a gunman shot him outside a gym in Sydney’s west.

He fought twice in the UFC, in 2018 and 2019, losing both times, before becoming a coach, according to ESPN.

He has helped develop some of Australia’s top mixed martial arts prospects, the website says.

A local resident who identified himself only by his first name, Ben, said he was walking with his wife when he heard a gunshot.

“It was around that time that we also heard a bang and a lot of smoke went into the air… that would have been the car,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“There was a lot of excitement, a lot of people were just shocked because they had never witnessed anything like this.”

“The shooting happened while kids were literally riding bikes in the park.”

Neighbor Natalie, who also did not give her last name, said she was outside her house with her children when the incident took place.

“I immediately called the police,” she told national broadcaster ABC.

Natalie said she ran to see if Mokhtarian was alive, but “he clearly wasn’t.”

“I could immediately tell he wasn’t alive, otherwise I would have tried to help him,” she said.

The killing came a day after police foiled a “kill team” carrying guns, balaclavas, body-worn cameras and jerry cans as they headed to a daycare.

Police are investigating whether the two incidents are linked.

Shooting deaths in Australia are rare.

A 1996 massacre in the town of Port Arthur, Tasmania, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to significantly toughen gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.