Mixed Martial Arts Champion Jumps Into Action to Stop Would-Be Robbers
Mayura Dissanyake is a gas station clerk at a Fuel Depot in Houston. He is also a five-time consecutive Mixed Martial Arts national champion.
His two worlds came together when several men tried to rob his co-worker right in front of him. Dissanyake's co-worker had just pulled into a parking space after returning from the bank, when two men jumped out of an SUV and attempted to grab the bank bag he was carrying, according to Houston's KPRC. The store's surveillance cameras were recording as Dissanyake jumped out from behind the counter and took matters into his own hands.
"The first guy I saw, I just kicked him in the face," said Dissanyake, who is originally from Sri Lanka. "Then I punched the other guy."
Involved with mixed martial arts for more than a decade, Dissanyake went full-on vigilante and used moves he has learned from cage matches.
"We learn how to punch, how to kick … and all that stuff you can use in the streets," Dissanyake said.
While two of the would-be robbers got away, Dissanyake used physical force to subdue the third man, 33-year-old Odell Mathis, out of concern that he may have had a weapon on him.
Mathis has been charged with robbery with bodily injury. Police are still looking for the other two subjects.
KPRC asked the Houston Police Department for Mathis's mug shot, but they declined, saying the may want to use it for some lineups, as he could be wanted for other crimes.
