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Who is Ro Malabanan? Hero MMA fighter pins down suspect after rogue attack on NYC construction worker

After pinning the attacker to the ground, the martial arts expert stayed on top of the suspect until police arrived

A video of Filipino American MMA fighter Ro Malabanan, 44, stopping a violent attack on a construction worker, while on his way to work in New York City on July 27, has gone viral on the Internet. Netizens are all in praise of the fighter, calling him 'a hero.'

The incident took place after Malabanan, who has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a yellow belt in judo, saw the attacker, who was later identified as 28-year-old Samuel Frazier, sucker-punch a construction worker in Manhattan's SoHo shopping district. He said, as per Yahoo! "I just got out of the subway and I was on Broadway and Prince, heading to work and two guys who were walking towards me, a third guy showed up out of nowhere, just sucker punched one of the guys and punched him on the side of his face." Malabanan later detailed the incident on his Instagram account. He said, "My jiu-jitsu instincts just kicked in. I jumped on his back. He tried to swing me off then — but for those of you in the know — a seatbelt position dragged him down to the floor, and I immediately took his back and pinned him to the ground.” The martial arts expert then stayed on top of the suspect until police arrived.

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Social media users applauded his bravery, with several commenters calling him a hero for helping the victim. One wrote, "You are a super hero," while another said, "You did good and looked good doing it." 

One tweet read, "Love it! Glad he was caught. Ro Malabanan Is fantastic and brave." Another wrote, "Big respect to NY vigilante Ro Malabanan. Since the city doesn't do enough to keep these problematic people off the streets, ever, I'm grateful for awesome samaritans like him. Blessings and appreciation to him."

Who is Ro Malabanan?

Malabanan was born in the Philippines but grew up in New York. He migrated to the US with his family when he was nine. He currently studies jiu-jitsu and teaches boxing in New York. According to Yahoo!, he turned to martial arts after he experienced racial harassment.