Former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao and 11 other MMA personalities ran for city council seats in Brazil but failed to secure enough votes in the October 6 elections.
Renan Barao, the former UFC bantamweight champ, along with 11 other MMA figures, took a swing at politics. They aimed for city council seats but didn’t hit the mark in the Oct. 6 elections.
Barao, once the king of the 135-pounders, only managed to snag 253 votes in Natal. That’s the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, by the way.
Felipe Arantes? He had a bit more luck. Known for his submission win over Yves Jabouin, he pulled in 14,607 votes in São Paulo. Meanwhile, Godofredo Pepey, who got KO’d by Arantes back in June 2013, ended up with just 77 votes in Fortaleza.
Rudimar Fedrigo from Chute Boxe was the runner-up among these MMA hopefuls. He got 3,758 votes in Curitiba, still not enough. Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons also tried his luck there but only got 143 votes. Evangelista Santos? He gathered 341 votes back home in Rondonopolis.
The least successful? That would be Paulo Bananada, a veteran of 56 fights. He received a mere dozen votes in Sapé. Delson Heleno, a TUF vet, earned 111 votes in Teresopolis. Ronys Torres fared slightly better with 472 votes in Manacapuru.
Then there’s Ralph Gracie with 1,422 votes in Rio de Janeiro and Tiago Trator who was voted for 257 times in Laranjal do Jari. Quite the lineup!
Oh, and a quick update: Fabio Maldonado, who’s been around both UFC and boxing rings, ran for office in Sorocaba. But alas, his tally of 182 votes wasn’t quite enough either.