![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/g65r5yva3wp20dq5.jpg\")
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AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 9) – A Minnesota MMA fighter was among the victims of a tragic mass shooting in Austin<\/a> over the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n MMA fighter’s life and legacy\u00a0 <\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Jorge Munoz-Pederson, originally from Glenwood, Minnesota, was an amateur fighter who trained at The Academy in Brooklyn Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was set to make his professional debut in May. Friends described him as talented, hardworking, and a joy to be around.\u00a0<\/p>\n “He’s so funny. He’s just so outgoing. And just to know him is to just laugh,” said Malaquias Jarmon, his friend, training partner and employee.<\/p>\n Shocked, numb, sad\u00a0 <\/p>\n The backstory:<\/p>\n Munoz-Pederson had recently moved to Austin, Texas, seeking a fresh start with a new job in sales. He had sold half of a local moving company before relocating.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unfortunately, his new beginning was cut short when he became the third victim in the mass shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n “To be honest with you, I’m a mess. It was sad to see him go, just to move to Texas, and then just to have that happen so randomly. It’s a lot of stuff pouring into my head,” said Jarmon.<\/p>\n Remembering Munoz-Pederson <\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n “Training in martial arts can be incredibly difficult, both physically and mentally, and Jorge was someone who always liked to bring a little bit of humor to the daily practice, and that is a superpower,” said Andy Grahn, manager at The Academy. “He really was my big brother. He helped me through a lot of stuff. He kept me out of fights that I shouldn’t have been in. He gave me advice. He was a confidant and just nothing short of a brother,” said Jarmon.<\/p>\n Munoz-Pederson’s family expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of support, stating, “This was a senseless tragedy. Jorge was a funny, caring, driven man who touched so many as evidenced by the outpouring of support we’ve received. We feel surrounded by love and are grateful for that. Hold your loved ones close.”<\/p>\n Texas<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Minnesota<\/a>U.S.<\/a>Mass Shootings<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 9) – A Minnesota MMA fighter was among the victims of a tragic mass shooting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,36146,641,130111,638,60602,44,82,1461,182],"class_list":{"0":"post-513200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-crime-publicsafety","11":"tag-fighting","12":"tag-mass-shootings","13":"tag-mma","14":"tag-mn","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}