Longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran, Jorge Gurgel, has retired from combat sports following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Silva Gallo.
Gallo, 58, was struck by a speeding cab back on Aug. 29, 2014 in New York City, which dragged her for many feet before coming to a halt. Despite efforts from onlookers to help, who pulled together to lift the cab off her, she was pronounced dead at Lenox Hill Hospital moments later.
For Gurgel, losing his mother also meant losing his biggest supporter, best friend and inspiration. According to Jorge, he spoke with his mother a little less than an hour before the tragic accident and shared his final conversation with MMA Junkie:
"She literally said, ‘If you die tomorrow, everybody's lives will still go on. You don't need to take care of everybody. I want you to get rid of all the bad energy in your life. You have to get rid of all the crazy.' It was of those mom speeches. She was all about positivity. She had the biggest smile in the world. She hated people that played ‘poor me, poor me.' She was all about owning your s-t. Get the hell up. Get your s-t done. Don't find excuses. She did not believe in excuses. Everybody who knows me knows that she was my hero. She was many people's hero. The person I am today I owe 100 percent -- not 99 percent -- 100 percent to her. Everything I am and everything I've accomplished is because of her. She believed in me."
According to Gurgel, his mother wasn't a big fan of watching him fight. After all, seeing someone punching your son isn't exactly what a mother wants to see. Still, she supported him and couldn't help but to brag about him to anyone who would lend an ear.
However, as Gurgel recalls, coaching is what his mother felt was his true calling. And though he was adamant he wanted to keep fighting, his mother always wanted him to walk away from the fight game as a competitor.
And on the heels of her untimely passing, Gurgel has decided to honor his mom's wishes and announce his retirement from active fighting.
"My goal now is to make people’s lives better and make them feel better about themselves. People that come (into the academy) overweight. People that come with low self-confidence. People that come who have been bullied in school. There’s no better feeling than seeing them six months later winning NAGA (North American Grappling Association) competitions or knocking people out in muay Thai competitions, knowing that I had a part in all that. Knowing that I created that (is satisfying). I’m going to continue to change as many lives as I can for the positive using martial arts to do it. It changed my life. I want to spread it all forward."
Gurgel competed six times under the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) banner and as many times with Strikeforce, as well. He leaves MMA with a 14-10 record for a career that started way back in 2002. He last competed under the Titan FC banner this past February.
We here at MMAmania.com would like to send our condolences to Gurgel and his family.