5 MMA fighters who went to jail

Christy Mack and War Machine during happier times (* Credits- MMAJunkie)

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a sport that attracts a wide variety of personalities- some good, some bad. However, from time-to-time, we come across a select few anti-social MMA pros that go against everything that martial arts teach us.

Top MMA organisations such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator, RIZIN FF, One FC, WSOF and others, have their fair share of anti-social elements and ex-cons. Today we take a look at a few such MMA pros that have been behind bars. Let’s take a brief look at MMA’s infamous ‘Jailbirds’:

#5 Jon ‘War Machine’ Koppenhaver

Image result for war machine and christy mack — Christy Mack at a Bellator event to support War Machine (* Credits- Bellator MMA)

Jon ‘War Machine’ Koppenhaver is a former UFC and Bellator fighter, with an MMA base of Muay Thai. His most notable victory is over MMA veteran Roger Huerta.

Koppenhaver officially changed his name to War Machine in 2008. In September of 2007, he was found guilty of striking a man and choking him unconscious in a parking-lot brawl, which led to a three-year probation and 30-day community service sentence.

On February 22^nd 2008, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery, and was fined and sentenced to probation. Furthermore, he got into a fight at Point Loma bar in early 2010, resulting in a prison sentence in August of the same year.

He was handed a one-year prison sentence for his Point Loma bar scuffle as well as another fight at the Pacific Beach bar. He was imprisoned in San Diego, California’s George Bailey Detention Facility and served time in solitary confinement. It was announced that he’d serve another year at the Facility via his own Twitter account that he still maintained whilst in prison.

Then came the big one; War Machine’s August 8^th, 2014 attempted rape and assault on his ex-girlfriend and porn star, Christy Mack and her friend Corey Thomas. Mack suffered 18 broken bones, a broken nose, missing teeth, a fractured rib and a ruptured liver.

Thomas also reportedly suffered injuries in War Machine’s rampage. He is currently serving time High Desert State Prison in Nevada.

Jon ‘War Machine’ Koppenhaver’s assault, on Christy Mack and Corey Thomas, caps off his long and storied list of criminal exploits.