[imagesource: YouTube / Six Time News]

Brazil might have unlocked a new level in political theatre by turning disagreements or disputes into an actual cage fight.

This happened when the mayor of a small Brazilian city challenged an ex-councilman that was giving him flak to a full-on mixed martial arts (MMA) brawl.

The mayor of Borba, Simao Peixoto, and former city councilman Erineu “Mirico” da Silva have been at each other’s throats for a while.

After da Silva posted a video criticising Peixoto’s management of one of his areas and threatening the mayor with a “beat-down”, the fight was officially on.

At least it would be fought in a regulation octagon, complete with referees and fans, rather than on the streets or in some ancient Roman gladiator arena.

A large crowd gathered on Sunday in the town’s centre to watch the two middle-aged shirtless politicians throw some punches at each other for 13 minutes:

The Citizen has the score:

Peixoto, an MMA fan fond of appearing in political ads with his grappling gloves on, entered the ring stamping on the mat and making a throat-slitting gesture in Da Silva’s direction, a video of the fight posted online showed.

The two shirtless men wasted no time lunging at each other, but appeared to tire quickly.

Da Silva managed to take the mayor down twice – once with an early right jab, once with a third-round leg sweep – but the judges declared Peixoto the winner.

The fact that the mayor was declared the winner despite being taken down sounds like a familiar trope.

The event was apparently triple-pronged, set up to promote sports as well as being a charity event with attendees asked to donate food for the poor.

Meanwhile, the Amazonas state health regulators were not at all happy, demanding an explanation from the city as to why they would allow such a large crowd of shouting, maskless fans to gather without any COVID-19 restrictions in place.

But mostly the men were criticised for turning Brazil’s already polarised politics into a literal cage fight.

[source:citizen]