Joey Beltran found himself in a scary situation before his fight against Frank Tate on Thursday night.
Beltran was eating breakfast at a restaurant when his coach showed him a video. He told TMZ Sports that it was “an old school Fear Factor” video, which caused him to start laughing.
Just a few seconds later, the ‘Mexicutioner’ began choking on his breakfast.
“Basically I was at breakfast today, chilling all normal and then my coach showed me this ridiculously funny video,” said Beltran. “An old school Fear Factor video or something and I started laughing. Next thing I know, I started choking. I couldn’t cough up the food and I stood up and started panicking.”
A quick-thinking David Feldman — founder and president of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) — saved Beltran by springing into action and performing the Heimlich maneuver. The food was dislodged after several pumps.
“Of all people, the boss man had to come up and bust a Heimlich,” said Beltran. “Couple of pumps and I spit it out and I was all good. So, contrary to popular belief, David Feldman cares about us fighters!”
Feldman told Damon Martin of MMA Fighting that he happened to be in the right place at the right time to save his fighter.
“We were actually just sitting there, I was having a conversation with one of my guys and he pointed and said, ‘Your main event’s choking,’ and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?,” said Feldman. “I turn around and I’m like, holy s—t!
“He was choking,” continued Feldman. “He was trying to cough it up but he wasn’t making any noise and he was actually starting to turn colors.”
Scary situation aside, Beltran will still fight Tate tonight at BKFC Fight Night: Ft. Lauderdale. The former BKFC heavyweight champion returns after losing his championship to Arnold Adams at BKFC Fight Night: New York this past November.
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