#MMA fighter Bruno Canetti shot in chest during botched robbery #SportsNews

Enlarge Image

UFC Featherweight Bruno Canetti
Instagram @brunocannetti/@ninja_cannetti

Argentinian MMA fighter Bruno Canetti was left hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his chest after two armed thugs allegedly tried to steal his motorbike.

The 29-year-old bore a bloodied wound in footage of him talking to doctors from the emergency ward of a hospital outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. Two armed robbers were said to have ambushed Canetti as he drove through the area of Lanus on his motorbike.

According to local media, the featherweight champion in the Combate Americas championship had parked his bike to text his trainer and his brother Guido, also an MMA fighter.

The thugs then got out of a nearby Chevrolet and demanded he hand over the keys to the motorbike, according to reports.

As the Argentine struggled to remember where his keys were in the moment, the robbers were described as becoming nervous and one attempted to punch Canetti, the report said.

At this point, the MMA star fought back before having a gun pulled on him. Canetti ran for cover as the robber opened fire, and one shot landed in Canetti’s chest with another skimming his abdomen.

The thieves escaped with Canetti’s phone before Canetti’s brother and his trainer arrived on the scene.

UFC veteran Guido, 40, recounted to local media: “He told me, ‘They shot me twice’. But he was okay. The bullet had gone through his jacket and T-shirt and got stuck in his chest.

“He is okay, he had a guardian angel. He was lucky neither of the bullets went into a soft area and affected his organs.”

Surgeons at the local hospital removed the 22-caliber bullet from Canetti’s chest after it became lodged in his sternum.

After a few hours under observation, he was discharged. A police investigation has been launched but no arrests have been reported.