Edgar Chairez Recounts Shot Once in Mexicali Gun Attack

Edgar Chairez said he was shot once in a gun attack in Mexicali, Mexico, after stepping into a street fight involving a friend. The 30-year-old UFC fighter said he got away by running while the shooters kept firing until they ran out of bullets.

Chairez on the Mexicali shooting

“It was a friend’s fight on the street,” he said. Chairez said he was there but not part of the fight, and described trying to break the men up before both he and his friend were shot. His friend was hit about four times.

He said the shooters had “terrible aim” and hit him only once. “I got away only because I ran, but they kept shooting at me until they ran out of bullets,” he said. Chairez added that violence was a constant part of life growing up in Mexicali.

Mexicali Streets, UFC Cage

Chairez said he was not a gang member and kept his focus on football until he was 18 years old. “From the very beginning, my life was all about sports,” he said, adding that his dream was to become a professional footballer before he shifted fully to fighting.

That path has brought him to a 3-2 UFC record with one no-contest. He has won his past two fights against CJ Vergara and Felipe Bunes, with losses to Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira. This Saturday, he is scheduled to face Bruno Silva at UFC Vegas 118.

Chairez Chases World Cup Match

Chairez said a strong result could also bring a different prize: a trip to watch a World Cup match live. “I need to motivate them because I want them to invite me to a match,” he said, referring to the national MMA team and noting there are only about 15 of them. After the fight, he said he hopes to take a couple of weeks off and go watch a World Cup match.

The shooting story sits behind everything else in his career now. Chairez survived one bullet in Mexicali, built a UFC run from a football-first childhood, and enters UFC Vegas 118 trying to keep his winning streak alive while pushing for the kind of opportunity he says he still wants most.