Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian has been shot dead in Sydney, Australia in what’s alleged to have been a gangland killing.
The 33-year-old Mokhtarian was reportedly out walking in Riverside, Sydney at around 6pm on Wednesday evening when he was allegedly shot and killed from a nearby car.
Dashcam footage has since been posted on abc.net.au from a nearby driveway that reveals what appears to be over a dozen shots being fired, before seconds a later a red Audi car comes speeding past.
“A man has died in a public place shooting in Sydney’s west today,” a NSW Police statement read. “About 6pm today, emergency services were called to Annaluke Street, Riverstone, following reports of a shooting.
“Officers attached to Riverstone Police Area Command attended and found a man suffering gunshot wounds. He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics, however he died at the scene….
“Police established a crime scene and commenced inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident. A short time later, about 6.15pm, emergency services were called to Riverstone Road, Riverstone, near Clark Street, following reports of a car fire.
“Fire and Resue [SIC] NSW crews attended and extinguished the blaze, however, the vehicle was destroyed. Police have established a second crime scene and are working to establish whether the two incidents are linked.”
Further footage has also emerged of masked men also fleeing a white van that had also been set on fire at another nearby street.
Mokhtarian had previously made his way onto The Ultimate Fighter season 27 back in 2018 at a time when he held an 8-0 MMA record.
He lost his only fight on the show, but did go on to have two bouts in the promotion, suffering a 1st round TKO loss to Sodiq Yussuf in his debut, followed by a unanimous decision defeat against Seung Woo Choi in December of 2019.
Mokhtarian was then released from the promotion, and that proved to be the final fight of his career as he then moved on to coaching fighters at the Australian Top Team gym he had founded alongside his brother Ashkan Mokhtarian, who had also had an 0-2 stint in the UFC dating back to 2017 before retiring in 2019 with a 13-4 record.
Suman’s brother Ashkan was arrested on drug supply charges back in 2023, and then in February of 2024 Suman was the target of an assassination attempt outside of the Australian Top Team gym.
Footage of that incident showed a a gunman disguised as a delivery driver pulling up on a scooter, then walking over to Mokhtarian and opening fire.
On that occasion Mokhtarian escaped with his life and the gunman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, but just a couple of months later police called of an MMA event in Sydney that he was due to coach a fighter at due to fears that he was again going to be the target of a gangland hit.
“It’s very brazen, and it’s a shame that this is happening in our community,” Riverstone police superintendent Jason Joyce said after Mokhtarian’s murder on Wednesday. “You’d want to think that in a residential area that people could wander the streets at that time of night and be safe, but we do believe it’s a targeted attack.
“My heart goes out to the family of this victim, and certainly any of the people that witnessed it, [it] would have been a horrific thing to witness, and it’s certainly not something we tolerate in the community.”
