‘Special Forces’ Season 5 contestant quits show after cracking a rib
The latest episode of ‘Special Forces’ Season 5 saw yet another participant leave the competition. The remaining 11 contestants took part in the episode’s challenges, but Mauricio Umansky ultimately decided to voluntarily withdraw because of an injury he sustained during an earlier combat. In an exclusive interview with People, he shared, “I had to make the decision to voluntarily withdraw. I did not want to medically withdraw, I wanted to voluntarily withdraw, because I wanted to do it with dignity, and I wanted to do it in front of the DS, not in front of the doctor. So I (bore) down and got myself to do that.”
Speaking about leaving the competition due to a rib injury, he noted that he had no regrets. Recalling the challenge in which he got injured, Mauricio shared, “I ended up having to fight Matt Barnes, who is considerably larger than me, on height and weight and reach and absolutely everything. I took a punch to the rib and he ended up cracking my rib.” He added, “Looking back, I’m proud that I didn’t leave right away, that I was able to do two more competitions, two more challenges before I left. But then, going into the gas chamber, I had watched that before on previous episodes and I knew what that was about - hacking up a lung,” he added.
Alexia Umansky’s father also explained that he did not want to risk turning a potentially cracked rib into a more serious injury involving his lungs. “I just felt that if I got in there with that rib the way it was feeling — and it was cracked, I didn’t know at the time whether it was cracked or not, but assuming it was, I’ve broken a lot of bones in my life, so I kind of knew it was cracked - I didn’t want to put my lung into a potential situation where I could have punctured (it) or really created much more damage.”
Despite his injury, Mauricio didn’t want to leave his daughter behind in the competition, “I wish I would’ve still been there with my daughter.” He noted, “She was all in right away.” During his interview, he also talked about conquering fears, challenges, and living “in those conditions” with his daughter. His only regret was that he couldn’t stay with her longer. “Knowing that she was doing so great and that she was growing as a person - I just wanted to witness that,” he added. Fans can stream new episodes of ‘Special Forces’ Season 5 on Fox every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.
