Walt Weiss MMA background, explained: Braves manager uses jiu-jitsu, Taekwondo skills to tackle Jorge Soler

The brawl between the Angels and Braves on Tuesday night has been making its rounds in the sports world. Most have their eyes on the punches thrown between the Angels' Jorge Soler and the Braves' Reynaldo Lopez. 

That is, until Jorge Soler is tackled to the ground. Not by Lopez, but by Braves manager Walt Weiss. 

The 62-year-old Weiss brought a 34-year-old Soler to the ground with ease, leaving fans questioning how Walt Weiss remained this strong. 

From cage fighting to martial arts, Weiss is trained for these situations. And despite being 28 years older than Soler, he had no trouble taking him to the ground. 

MORE: Walt Weiss explains why he tackled Angels' Jorge Soler

Walt Weiss MMA background 

Mixed martial arts wasn't necessarily in the cultural lexicon during the start of Weiss's playing career. That being said, he often found himself training, taking up taekwondo after retiring from baseball. 

Weiss's teammates knew about his ability to win fights on the diamond, with Chipper Jones saying that he could "tie anybody from their team up in a pretzel in 20 seconds," because he was "one of those MMA guys." 

Tony La Russa managed Weiss at the start of his career. In reference to his martial arts endeavors, La Russa told the Society for American Baseball Research, "I knew [Weiss] was tough, I didn't know he was nuts." 

Walt Weiss Taekwondo 

After his playing career, Weiss took up taekwondo, becoming a black belt in the craft. He honed these skills and later began to transfer them into an MMA atmosphere. 

Weiss told MMA Now in 2016, "I trained when I was younger in the traditional arts, in taekwondo, and then I got into MMA about 15, 20 years ago when it first started." 

Walt Weiss jiu-jitsu 

When Weiss coached for the Colorado Rockies in 2016, his offseason training included jiu-jitsu, which he described to MMA Now as "part of his lifestyle." 

Weiss said that his training includes "mixed martial arts, a lot of jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and that type of training." 

MORE: Could Jorge Soler, Reynaldo Lopez be suspended after Tuesday's brawl?

Did Walt Weiss fight professionally? 

Weiss never fought professionally in the MMA world, but he did compete in cage fighting at a martial arts gym. He said to MMA Now that "since [he] was into martial arts, it kind of evolved into the MMA." 

The UFC itself was not founded until 1993, when Weiss was already 29 years old and playing for the Florida Marlins. 

Weiss has emphasized in the MMA Now interview that baseball is a more mental sport when compared with MMA. When it comes to containing Jorge Soler, however, the physicality is not to be ignored.