HOUSTON, Texas – A group of would-be thieves picked the wrong gas station to rob.
Mayura Dissanayaka was behind the counter when he noticed his co-worker return to the store after a run to the bank.
The men in an SUV were watching too because they went straight for the man and the bank bag as soon as he got out of his car.
“Well, just a reaction, you see someone get beat up, you just go out,” said Dissanayaka.
Dissanayaka ran outside before the two robbers even saw him. 
“The first guy I saw, I just kicked him in the face. Then I punched the other guy,” he said.
His co-worker was on the ground being beaten when Dissanayaka’s first kick caught one of the crooks off guard.
He says he used moves he learned from cage matches.
He trained in mixed martial arts for more than a decade and was named the MMA National Champion for five consecutive years in Sri Lanka.
“We learn how to punch, how to kick and all that stuff you can use in the streets,” he said.
In seconds, the men began their retreat to their getaway vehicle.
“They were waiting for them, but when they were running back, I caught one guy with a hook, so he fell down, so they just left him,” he said. 
One of the robbers wanted to go back for his accomplice but decided against it when Mayura moved toward him.
In the end, they left the man as Mayura put him in submission while he waited for police.
“Just kicked him until he lays down on the floor, until he stopped moving cause I wasn’t sure if he had like a knife or a gun, so I wanted him to stop moving, ” he said.
Police arrested the man identified as 33-year-old Odell Mathis.
His partner and the driver got away but customers of the Fuel Depot still say this is a ‘feel good story,’ unless you are the would-be thief.
