Reports from the coronavirus frontline: Nurse leaves UFC to battle a deadlier foe

Nurse Philippe Nover, aka 'The Filipino Assassin,' center, with his co-workers. 

Former mixed martial arts fighter Philippe Nover has a new opponent. He now wrestles with the coronavirus sweeping across the globe.

The man who was known as "The Filipino Assassin" has traded in his leather gloves and mouthpiece for a face shield, mask. rubber gloves and a protective gown; the octagon for a New York City emergency room.

As a former professional athlete, Nover knows his health is better than most. That’s why he volunteered to join the Brooklyn hospital's ER and ICU, even though he might catch the deadly virus.

“I’m very healthy. I eat right. I exercise. So why not go to the front line? There’s a lot of nurses I work with who are older with family and kids. Some of them have overcome cancer or are managing diseases. A lot of the younger staff like me feel the same way. This is our calling. I never thought it would come to this, but this is what we signed up for.”

Nover comes from a family of nurses. His father is a retired nurse and his brother is in the same profession.

An RN for ten years now, Nover has no regrets about his career shift. “I am absolutely happy with my decision," he said. "My destined path is definitely toward helping people. I love what I do. I do things in my life not to be remembered. I do things in my life for the demand of current times. I am just glad I have passion in both of my careers,” Nover added. 

“I honestly don't mind being on the frontline as long as I have the proper gown, mask, and eye shield. I signed up for this since the day I became a nurse. My job is to treat and help people. There is no other choice,” he pointed out.

The hardest part of his current assignment is the emotional toll it takes. He often calls upon the mental toughness he developed in his 23-fight MMA career to help him get through exhausting rounds in the ER.

In an interview with The Guardian, he said: “In the past, we’ve had an influx of patients, but it always settles down for a bit where we can catch our breaths. It’s not settling down here.”

“Seeing a patient dying while on a vent is tough. It is something that sticks with you,” he lhe recalls. “It is a painful disease. I even heard of patients saying it feels like they have blades inside their lungs.

"I’ve seen such horrific stuff when it comes to COVID-19. Patients dying in front of me, gasping for air.

"It’s not a sight that I want to see anymore and I think just quarantining and staying home would be helpful.

He recalls, recently,  "I had a patient who had a legitimate heart attack, we went in and put a stent in and there’s no ICU bed,

“The ICU units are full of COVID-19 patients.

"On top of that, I wouldn’t really want my relative to be in an ICU after just having a heart attack being next to a patient who has COVID-19 and it’s spreading like wildfire."

Philippe Nover, right, when he was a professional mixed martial artist with the UFC. 

Nover told The Guardian that “the influx of COVID patients is still not settling down” – and the worst is yet to come, according to medical experts.

“The tipping point is when they’ll have to start deciding who gets the remaining ventilators as they prepare for what could be another Italy or Spain,” Nover told The Guardian.

Despite a glimmer of hope that the coronavirus threat is peaking NYC after fewer patients were admitted to the hospitals Thursday, Nover said, “This will continue until we have the ability to maximize testing. Right now, we are not testing enough. We don’t have enough testing kits available for the entire population. When we do, along with some better treatment plans and vaccines, we can see an end to this.” 

Now Nover and his fellow hospital workers gird for the expected surge. Already, the afflicted are everywhere now, spilling out into hallways lined with gurneys. Even critical care patients have been wheeled into the hallways, connected to bulky transport monitors. The ICU is now dedicated exclusively to Covid-19.

It may look like a never-ending battle against an enemy for which medicine doesn't have an answer, but Nover keeps reporting to work and donning his personal protective equipment. He fears that the hospital will run out of PPE. He has written his name on his gear with a magic marker.

“All healthcare workers signed up from the beginning of their education that we are here to help the sick. This is the one single moment where our ability to help the public will be tested."

He's proud of his new profession and the other nurses who risk their lives to care for the ill. “They don’t go to work to make a living — but to save lives,” said Nover. “After all — this is their calling.”

NEW YORK — “I couldn’t think of how I could go to work everyday. By God’s grace, this is my 18th day working in the hospital.”


This is Filipino operating room nurse, Patrick Singson, bracing himself.


Makeshift hospitals are ready to take in patients that could no longer be accommodated in hospitals, like where Singson works, that have already reached capacity.


Body bags have already piled up in refrigerated trucks and hospital hallways.


Healthcare workers may call their workplace a “medical war zone” — but Singson said Filipino nurses have what it takes to survive worst-case scenarios.


“Palaban ang mga Pilipino, hindi kami sumusuko, kami, wala akong naririnig na reklamo sa kanila, yung ibang lahi diyan nag quit na… pero yung mga Pilipino, solid kami.”


“Filipinos are fighters. We don’t give up. We don’t complain. Others would have already quit. But Filipinos, we’re solid.”


Former UFC fighter turned nurse practitioner Philippine Nover is among those preparing for the medical battle of their lives.


“In the past, we’ve had an influx of patients, but it always settles down for a bit where we can catch our breaths, it’s not settling down here.”


Nover told The Guardian that “the influx of COVID patients is still not settling down” – and the worst is yet to come.


Nover said, “The tipping point is when they’ll have to start deciding who gets the remaining ventilators as they prepare for what could be another Italy or Spain.”


Both Singson and Nover are worried about the safety of health care providers and their patients.


“The fact na yung cdc, they’re allowing us to work kahit positive na yung iba, as long as asymptomatic ka ganun sila kadesperado dito.”


“The fact that the CDC, they’re allowing us to work even if others are already positive, as long as asymptomatic, that means they’re that desperate.”


Singson believes it was during the first week of the unexpected COVID-19 patients surge when many of his coworkers were infected — due to lack of information about the disease and lack of protective equipment


“There are Filipinos here fighting for their lives in the ICU. I can’t name them, but I want you to pray for us. There are a lot of Filipinos that have been infected here. But I want you to know they are not backing down. They will fight until the end.”


As for the healthcare workers who recovered from the coronavirus, Singson said many of them came right back to work as soon as they were able.


“They don’t go to work to make a living — but to save lives,” said Nover. “After all — this is their calling.”

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Blue scrubs by day, Lycra shorts when he has a match.

Such is the intriguing ‘double life’ of Phillipe Nover, a cardiac catheterization nurse and a mixed martial artist who goes by the formidable fighting moniker, “The Filipino Assassin.”

The job description of a nurse is quite a feat already. Imagine pursuing a second career as a mixed martial artist.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Phillipe was born to a Filipino mother from Quezon City and an American father of Polish descent. He calls himself a proud Filipino-American.

“My mother sent me to the Philippines every summer for a few months (when I was a kid). I absorbed the culture completely,” he said in an interview with The FilAm.

He is not only a fighter in the octagon, but also a nurse in the cardiac cath department of his hospital where one of his duties involves insertion of a catheter to determine a patient’s heart condition.

“Being a fighter and a nurse is difficult at times,” he said. “I have to know when to turn on the mean Phillipe in training and when to turn on the healing Phillipe at work, but I do enjoy both professions very much,” he said.

His parents enrolled him in self-defense classes as young boy “since I got into fights in grade school,” he tells UFC.com, the website of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. From there he went through a progression, from Karate to Kung-fu, Arnis, and Muay Thai.

“After a friend of mine heard of mixed martial arts, we decided to give it a try. He did well it in so I gave it my first try in 2003,” he recalled.
His father, an operating room nurse, thought his son should also try nursing for professional stability. As he enjoyed learning about the human body, Phillipe decided to follow his father’s suggestion.

Phillipe graduated from SUNY DownState Medical Center with a bachelors’ degree in Nursing. He has been a registered nurse in New York for 10 years now with some experience as an Emergency Room nurse. He currently works in the cardiac cath department and is also a registered cardiac invasive specialist.

“I try to keep my MMA business away from my patients but the few who find out are very surprised,” he said. “They don’t understand how a caring nurse like myself could get in a cage and hurt someone.”

Phillipe has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and over the last five years, he has been developing his skills in wrestling and boxing. He trains at gyms such as Renzo Gracie NYC Academy, Church Street Boxing, and Edge Hoboken.

“Being able to do both (martial arts and nursing) is a big challenge in itself,” he continued.

Outside these two professions, Phillipe enjoys travelling, playing poker, playing video games, eating out and trying new places.

“Aim high and have a game plan on how to get there. Don’t let anything or anyone stop you from pursuing your dreams” is his message to those aspiring to be a nurse and/or a mixed martial arts fighter.

The greatest lesson he has learned from both of his professions is “to let nothing stand in your way and to connect with only positive people and people that inspire you.”

Nover thanks his fans for all of their love and support. He faces “The Korean Bulldozer” Yui Chul Nam at UFC Fight Night 65 in Manila on May 16, 2015. Tune in to FoxSports 1 to watch it live.

“I am absolutely happy with my decision. My destined path is definitely toward helping people. I love what I do. I do things in my life not to be remembered. I do things in my life for the demand of current times. I am just glad I have passion in both of my careers,” Nover added.

Three years after his retirement, it seemed that Nover made the right choice of hanging up the gloves for good as many healthcare personnel like him are much needed on the frontline against the dreaded virus.

With insufficient access to testing and personal protective equipment to suppress the harrowing outbreak, numerous hospitals across the United States have already expressed concerns as they have left their workforce at a high risk of getting exposed.

“We have enough protective equipment for now, but they are always reminding us to use it carefully and not to be wasteful,” Nover disclosed.

As the pandemic is beginning to take a toll on medical professionals, Nover is still showing up day after day to face a mounting number of diagnosed patients, earning him and his colleagues praise as heroes.

“I honestly don't mind being on the frontline as long as I have the proper gown, mask, and eye shield. I signed up for this since the day I became a nurse. My job is to treat and help people. There is no other choice,” he pointed out.

Aside from being physically healthy, Nover imparted that he must likewise be emotionally and psychologically prepared, especially handling mortalities that are now a regular occurrence in most medical facilities in the country.

“Seeing a patient dying while on a vent is tough. It is something that sticks with you,” he lamented while recalling the incident. “It is a painful disease. I even heard of patients saying it feels like they have blades inside their lungs. The disease can also be spread so easily to someone who is at risk of dying.”

I still see people not quarantining. It is frustrating, but I live in New York. It's expected that not everyone will listen,” he vented. “People should take this seriously because even though most people believe they won't die from this illness, they can still get infected and become really sick.”

For Nover, he does not see the crisis ending anytime soon unless the American government implements a more concrete and sustainable approach to contain the virus from spreading.

“This will continue until we have the ability to maximize testing. Right now, we are not testing enough. We don’t have enough testing kits available for the entire population. When we do, along with some better treatment plans and vaccines, we can see an end to this,” he explained.

It may look like an uphill battle, but the current situation does not dissuade Nover from reporting to work and donning his medical scrub suit.

“All healthcare workers signed up from the beginning of their education that we are here to help the sick. This is the one single moment where our ability to help the public will be tested. I am so glad I chose to become a nurse. I am happy to take the frontline if I am called upon,” he declared.