Former UFC Fighter Suman Mokhtarian Shot Dead in Broad Daylight During Walk

A former UFC fighter was killed on Wednesday evening while going for an evening walk in Sydney, Australia. The fighter-turned-coach was shot down in Riverstone at around 6pm. Emergency services were called to the area, however, he died at the scene, despite the best efforts of the paramedics.

Suman Mokhtarian fought in the UFC two times between 2018 and 2019 when he lost in a knockout defeat to Sodiq Yusuff and a unanimous decision to Seung Woo Choi. He hadn’t fought since the loss to the latter and had turned his efforts to coaching, becoming the owner and head coach of Australian Top Team, which is based in Sydney.

Since the horrific news broke, there has been an outpouring of tributes from Australian-based MMA athletes coming in.

Tributes Flood in For Suman Mokhtarian

One of Mokhtarian’s students, Jesse Swain, spoke of how he owed his success in MMA to his trainer on his Instagram account.

He said: “Suman believed in me more than I believed in myself. I owe all I’ve done in MMA to him,”

He continued: “Anyone that knew him personally knows how passionate and invigorating he was, and he expected nothing but the best from you … he stopped me from quitting in late 2024, right before he got me the professional opportunities. He told me my potential in the game. I’ll make sure to fulfill that potential for him.”

Romel Luistro, coach for UFC stars Quillan Salkilld and Cody Haddon, meanwhile, posted on his Instagram: “Rest in Peace my brother.”

Police are treating the incident as a targeted attack in what has been the latest of a series of violent daylight attacks across the city.

Speaking about the attack, Police Superintendent Jason Joyce expressed his remorse for the Mokhtarian family.

Police Statement on Mokhtarian Shooting

Joyce said: “It’s a shame that this is happening in our community – you’d want to think that in a residential area like that people could wander the streets at that time of night and be safe.”

He added: “My heart goes out to the family of this victim and certainly any of the people that witnessed it; it would have been a horrific thing to witness.”

Joyce stated on Wednesday night that a witness had spotted a vehicle with one person inside, driving away from the crime scene. Police have launched an investigation into the shooting, but as of writing this article, haven’t made any arrests.

This is the second incident surrounding Mokhtarian, who was subject to an alleged assassination attempt in February 2024.

Police had previously cancelled an MMA event that was due to take place at Warwick Farm in southwest Sydney on the information that Mokhtarian could be the subject of a gangland hit.