What Really Happened to Gilbert Aldana

By ADCC News

It's been a pretty rough week for the MMA community, particularly those of us here in Arizona who were close to Gilbert Aldana. I've seen a lot of questions and speculation on the net as to what happened to Gil, and I'll like to set the record straight.

On Sunday, 11 Mar 07, Gil and a fellow MMA fighter Dave Connant set out on Dave's boat at Lake Pleasant in AZ for a day of boating with their families. Just after putting the boat in, Gil's tee shirt blew into the lake. Dave turned the boat and told Gil to reach over and grab it as they came up to it. Gil said, 'Nah....it gives me an excuse to jump in.' With that, Gil jumped off the boat. Dave turned the boat again and came back to Gil. The wind was blowing pretty hard, the water had as big of waves as you get on Lake Pleasant and the water temp was about 50 degrees. When Dave got back to Gil, he could see that Gil was having trouble treading water and immediately jumped in after him.

Dave swam to Gil and got him turned around and began swimming him back to the boat. While this was happening, Dave's wife was throwing life jackets toward them, but the wind kept pushing them out of reach. At this point between Gil's size, the cold water and waves, Dave also began to have trouble staying afloat, but still held onto Gil. Dave's wife brought the boat as close as she could without running over Dave and Gil, and Dave managed to grab onto the boat. The boat was still drifting and began pulling Dave away from Gil. Dave had a hold of Gil's arm and was telling him to kick, and eventually lost his grip. Dave managed to get back into the boat and was trying to bring it back to Gil so he could hoist him aboard from inside the boat. Dave yelled for Gil to swim and Gil said, 'I'm okay' and then sunk out of sight. This occurred in front of Gil's wife and two young sons.

The speculation was that he had a heart attack or hit something when went in the water. The truth is that 50 degree water is very cold and saps your strength. The only reason we didn't lose two of our family is that Dave went in the water in 'rescue mode' and had adrenaline pumping.....Gil went in to get a shirt. Even with the adrenaline kick, Dave almost drowned as well.

As of Friday, 15 mar 07, Gil's body has still not been recovered. The dive team is going back out on Monday to try and recover him. I want to thank the MMA community for the huge outpouring of support for his friends and family. Gil's employer, Valley Protective Service has started a memorial fund to help his family. Contributions can be sent to:

Christina Aldana
C/O Valley Protective Services
P.O. Box 11568
Chandler, AZ 85248

If there is anyone who doubts the authenticity of this post, you can call Valley Protective Service 24 hours a day at 480-777-0003 and confirm this information. Please get this information out on as many websites as possible. Gil's wife and sons are going to need all of our help.


Gilbert Aldana
August 25th, 1977-March 11th, 2007

Loving Husband
Devoted Father
Cherished Friend
PURE WARRIOR