It’s already not the brightest idea to call officers names when you’re surrounded by police, but one man in Florida learned the hard way what happens when you trash talk a cop who happens to be a UFC veteran. Bodycam footage shows the man getting angry that his car was going to get towed and making aggressive moves against the cops, thinking that he could take one of them in a fight maybe because he was shorter than him. But it turns out that the officer was Marlon Moraes, an MMA fighter who was once a contender for a UFC championship. Suffice it to say, the night didn’t go well for the man in the slightest.
MMA-fighter-turned-cop Marlon Moraes tackles loudmouth to the ground
Moraes was captured on bodycam footage taking down a man who thought he was a tough guy in a viral video that has recently resurfaced. The incident occurred back on March 27 at around 1:28 a.m. when an unnamed man in a black shirt and camo pants became aggravated that officers were telling him that his silver sedan is going to be towed from the parking lot.
By this time, Moraes had (temporarily) retired as a MMA fighter and decided to follow a career in law enforcement, being sworn in as an officer of the Davie Police Department in June 2024 before taking a position with the Coral Springs Police Department later that year. “Every time I go to work, I want to help someone,” he told CBS News in April. “When the call comes, I want to be the one.”
The footage begins with the man, surrounded by several officers, telling someone to shut up and a person telling him that’s he won’t be driving. Moments later, Moraes steps forward and is told by the man not to be a “b****.” When Moraes explains that the vehicle going to be towed, the man calls him the b-word yet again.
The video then cuts forward, showing the man trying to lean aggressively toward Moraes while flexing his muscles. Not knowing what he’s getting himself into, he then tells the officer, “I could f*** you up.”
Unfazed, Moraes tells the man to try. He doesn’t try at that moment and tells the officer to stop talking to him, and Moraes tells him to stay away from him then. The man continues to talk smack: “You ain’t s***. You can’t fight me. I’ll f*** you up.”
The man is then told by another officer that he’s “one step away from making it worse for yourself,” but he refuses to listen and can’t stop himself from throwing more verbal challenges at the cop. An officer in the background is seen smiling as the conversation escalates, perhaps knowing what is about to happen.
Some moments later, the man moves from the back of the car and takes two steps toward Moraes, despite being warned not to do so. Then in a flash, the officer takes a step forward, presses his hand against the man’s chest, puts his leg behind the man’s foot, and executes a clean hip toss takedown.
Without being able to take a single swing at Moraes, the man is sent down hard to the ground, his back thudding on the pavement as Moraes clambers on top of him. Without the ability to escape, the man has his arms locked by another officer, and he is placed in handcuffs within seconds. It’s unclear what charges the man faced after the incident.
As noted by Sherdog, Morales had exited the UFC in 2023 on a seven-fight losing streak. But in August 28, 2026, he officially returned to MMA under the Liga Monstro Combate banner, winning by unanimous decision against Maximiliano Perez.
