Mid acai bowl, Michael Rodrigues ran into fellow competitor Tanner Hendrickson while being live streamed on Youtube. What ensued was a brief exchange between words before the two erupted into a fight at the top of a staircase near Pipe.

We just off the phone with Tanner, and are hoping to get Michael's side of the story soon.

Tanner has since been kicked out of the trials set for tomorrow.

We hope to answer: why the fight started? What happened to the acai bowl? And what sort of rubbish device was this filmed on?

**4:20 PM UPDATE**

After seeing Tanner surfing at Ehukai Beach Park last night, where he stuffed several sand-spitting barrels before returning to the beach for supper, we decided to call him and hear what happened in today's melee.

Stab: Hey Tanner, how’s it going man?

Tanner Hendrickson: Not too good man, I just got kicked out of the Pipe Trials.

Ah man, that sucks. We actually just saw the video of the fight and wanted to hear what happened. So what’s the deal with this whole M-Rod thing?

He’s just been a dick to me for years and I was over it. He ran me over in the Azores once, and I thought he was gonna come up and apologize but instead he was all, “Fuck you.”

Then once we were in a heat together at the U.S. Open, and before the heat started I was sitting by the pier, and he came up and sat shoulder to shoulder with me. Then he reached down and started trying to take my leash off. I was like, “What the fuck, bra?”, but instead of doing anything stupid I just told myself I was gonna smash him in the heat. At the end of the heat he ended up getting past me, so I went and complained to Rubey [Brian Robbins, WSL North America contest director] to see if they had footage of the situation. That didn’t work, then when I walked out of the tower Michael and all his Brazilian friendss were like “Fuck you, cry baby! Get out of the competitors’ area, you’re not even a competitor.”

Then I ran into him at the airport in Portugal one day, and again he was like “Fuck you. Fuck you,” for no reason. I was just like alright bra, we’ll see how well that works out for you.

So what happened today? I mean we saw the video, but what sparked the whole situation?

Well I just saw him coming up the stairs and we made eye contact, and he was all “Do what you’re gonna do”, and shoulder bumped me. Then he put his hands up and I did too. You saw the rest.

So you feel like M-Rod instigated it?

100%. Both today, and over the past few years. And the thing is, he knew it was being filmed. I had no idea. So he instigated this while walking up the stairs, knowing it would set me off. I feel like he played me and got the better of me.

And now you're out of the trials?

Yeah, the WSL said that I “initiated the violence” so I’m out. It fucking sucks. I just went home [to Maui] to work for a few days to make enough money to be here for this event. Now I’m going home without making any money back from the Trials, let alone the chance to qualify for the Pipe Masters.

What has been the word from other people around the North Shore?

I’m not really sure. I’ve gotten messages from a lot of Brazilian people, half of them saying, “Thank you for doing that, he’s such a scrub,” and the other half saying they’re gonna kill me when I go to Brazil.

What’s your next move?

I’m just packing up and heading home. It fucking sucks.

**5:20 PM UPDATE**

Stab just got off the phone with a Portuguese translator, who helped us understand the context of the video. Below is the transcription of the Portuguese parts. Keep in mind, there are lots of people talking so some of it gets lost in the mix. But these are the most distinguishable parts.

Camera guy says: "Hey man come with us, will give us some viewers..."

Another guy says: "No dude he is cruising, he wants to relax and chill."

Camera guy says: "We have a comedy show here with Michael Rodrigues."

Michael Rodrigues says: "I wanna know if you guys are ready?"

Camera guy says: "Why?"

Michael Rodrigues says: "I am kidding."

Another guy says: "To keep up with him cause he never stops, that's why he fights, fought with the guys in Rio, talked shit about some guys in Rio...and the guys got all pissed off, of so much messing around, they guys don't get that he never stops." (Ed. note: after carefully reviewing this, our translator believed this person was talking about Michael getting in a fight in Rio, but they can't be sure.)

Then the fight starts, they all back up...

Camera guy says: "Holy Crap... What is going on? how do I turn this camera off?"

**6:00 PM UPDATE**

After gaining this intel, we reached back out to Tanner to see if he might have been correct in his earlier assertion that, "And the thing is, he knew it was being filmed. I had no idea. So he instigated this while walking up the stairs, knowing it would set me off. I feel like he played me and got the better of me."

We would soon find out that Tanner's claim of M-Rod "shoulder bumping" him prior to the fight (which can be clearly disproven by watching the video) had been initially misconstrued, as Tanner explains that it happened prior to the incident on the stairs. We'll let Tanner explain the rest.

Stab: Hey Tanner, we just got off the phone with a translator who helped us understand the context of the video. From what she relayed, the video crew was alluding to a potential situation with M-Rod and were encouraging him to "come with them" for the sake of views. While we can't be sure, it does sound like they might have been preemptively aware that your encounter with M-Rod was about to happen. But how would they have known?

Tanner Hendrickson: Bra, that's what I was saying before. That whole thing with the shoulder bump and him saying “Do what you’re gonna do” happened before our encounter in the video. I was just parking my car to go surfing, and I usually just walk down past the Volcom house to change and get ready. So I was walking there and as I was getting into the beach path I ran into Michael, and that's where he gave me this stupid look and a wink, and I was just like, "Really man, we've still got trouble?" That's when he was like "We can do whatever you wanna do," and gave me this shoulder nudge. All of that was before they went down to the beach.

Ohhh, we didn't understand that. Ok...

Yeah, so he shoulder nudged me and I was just like, "Are you kidding me bra?" Basically I was like, "If you look at me, say anything to me again, just consider it on and we're fucking scrapping right now. I'm fucking tired of this bra. I tried to mediate it with you before, I tried to squash it with you before, and all you tell me is 'Fuck you.' So the next time you look at me the wrong way or say something stupid to me, we're fucking squashing it and we're gonna scrap.

You said this to him?

Yeah I said that to him, and that's when he went down to the beach. Then when he was coming back up the stairs [the part we see in the video], he looks up at me and says, "What?", and that's why I slapped the açaí bowl out of his hand.

So you think that they could have been talking about you on the beach, and that the whole thing was premeditated.

That's the only reason I'm thinking they were even filming when he was coming up the stairs. I mean there's nothing interesting about that. They knew something was happening. And you can tell the guy in front gets out of the way because he knows something is gonna happen.

All the dots are connecting.

That's what I mean. That's what I'm pissed off about. It is what it is. I don't wanna get myself in any more trouble. I just want this to be over.

**10 PM UPDATE**

Fresh off the WSL press wheel, but for some reason not appearing on their homepage, Tanner Hendrickson has been suspended from "all competition until a full investigation can be completed following an incident involving Championship Tour athlete Michael Rodrigues."

The video of the "incident" can be seen here, and if you want a little backstory on the situation, including two interviews with Tanner and a dissection of the video's Portuguese quotes, you can find that here.

With all of the above in mind, we'll now look at the WSL's well-defined "fighting" policy, via their official Rulebook. We've highlighted the more relevant parts: