Who is Ro Malabanan, the New York-based MMA fighter who took down assault suspect on the street?

Ro Malabanan has become a viral sensation within the martial arts community due to his heroic actions when subduing an attacker on the streets of New York City. The Filipino martial artist is a jiu-jitsu black belt, judo yellow belt, boxer and also an aspiring actor.

The 44-year-old Malabanan was walking to his boxing instructor job when he saw a homeless man sucker-punch a construction worker. The martial artist reacted quickly, jumping on the attacker's back and eventually ending the altercation.

On his Instagram account, Malabanan updated his followers on the situation and also posted a video of the attacker on the floor:

"This guy assaulted six people before I got to him. I witnessed him punch someone right in front of me."

As mentioned, the post went viral in the martial arts community and even gained a reply from heavyweight boxer Otto Wallin, who famously gave Tyson Fury a tough fight a few years ago. Wallin applauded Ro Malabanan's actions using 'clap' emojis, which must have gone down well with the Filipino American.

Otto Wallin comment on Instagram [Image courtesy of @rotheshow on Instagram]

Khabib Nurmagomedov's Eagle FC MMA organization also noticed the incident and commented on Malabanan's interview with NBC New York on Instagram with an 'eagle' emoji.

Eagle FC comment on Instagram [Image courtesy of @rotheshow on Instagram]

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What technique did Ro Malabanan use when subduing the attacker in New York?

In the aftermath of the incident, Malabanan once again posted on his Instagram account, this time detailing exactly how he managed to subdue the attacker.

The 44-year-old explained that he used "the seatbelt" technique on the assailant and also advertised his training classes, a smart business move given the increase in media coverage he is receiving:

"The seatbelt is the move I used to subdue the attacker and pin him to the ground in less than thirty seconds which allowed me to walk away unscathed. If you would like to learn more about the power of Jiu-Jitsu, I invite you to take one of my following classes @kanomartialarts"

Ro Malabanan stated that the 'seatbelt' can be used to create various submission opportunities, such as the most common rear-naked choke. However, the martial artist clearly wasn't trying to injure the attacker, despite the homeless man allegedly assaulting six people. Malabanan simply used his jiu-jitsu knowledge to keep the man pinned down until the police could get involved.