"Always two sides to a story" - Justin Watson, who allegedly assaulted ex-UFC champion Nicco Montano, seemingly addresses accusation

Former UFC women's flyweight champion, Nicco Montano [Image credit: @nrmontano via Instagram]

Former and inaugural UFC women's flyweight champion Nicco Montano took to Instagram yesterday to accuse a certain Justin Watson of committing acts of violence against her in a hotel in Texas.

Nicco Montano stated on her Instagram story that a man named Justin Watson stomped, kicked, and pulled her hair before she ran down the hallway of the hotel in an undressed state. She said that an individual from the hotel heard her and came to her assistance.

A few hours later, Montano provided an update on the situation, stating that she was in the hospital.

Former #UFC flyweight champ Nicco Montano has two disturbing posts of what looks to be domestic violence to her IG story 2 hours ago. Looking for confirmation if it's legit, a hack, or what. Anyone know of Justin Watson as her significant other? #MMA @AntWalkerMMA @MrMWells https://t.co/mriXAmqIIw

Damon Martin of MMA Fighting confirmed with Nicco Montano's manager Ricky Kottenstette that she was getting scans done for the injuries sustained and was expected to be released later in the day.

Ex-UFC champ Nicco Montano posted on IG today that she was assaulted last night in Texas.

Her manager Ricky Kottenstette confirmed to me that she is currently hospitalized and getting scans for injuries suffered and she's expected to be released later today. Will update
#UFC https://t.co/wtFvzIczJC

Montano gave fans an update via Instagram story, saying she was doing okay and thanked everyone for their love and support.

Following Nicco Montano's posts, fans on social media began wondering about the identity of the man named Justin Watson and the former champion's relationship with him. Eagle-eyed followers on Reddit spotted one user under the name 'Justin Watson' among the accounts Nicco Montano follows on Instagram.

There were comments made from the same account regarding the matter under a post by the Instagram page MMA Island.

The post by the MMA media page said: "Nicco Montano has been hospitalized after being assaulted by an MMA fighter at a hotel."

Under the post, Justin Watson, who goes by the Instagram user name 'jdub259698', said:

"Always two sides to a story y'all and trust me Nicco and the rest of the world should probably sober up."

When asked to explain his side of the story by a follower, Justin Watson claimed that the police were involved in the matter and after investigation, no one was arrested. He did not provide any details on what happened, but once again reiterated that there is always another side to the story.

"Nothing really to explain cops were involved they investigated nobody got arrested it's terrible that she went to the hospital my only explanation is there's two sides to a story so don't get consumed with an assumption or a biased opinion."

Who is Justin Watson?

Justin Watson said nothing about the part where the post claimed he was a 'MMA fighter', which led to people wondering if he is the same person listed on Tapology as a lightweight mixed martial artist fighting out of Tennessee, US. The profile says he is a 34 year old who fights at lightweight and has had one professional outing so far.

His accuser, Nicco Montano, became the first UFC women's flyweight champion, beating Roxanne Modafferi at TUF 26 Finale in December 2017. Failing to defend her belt against Valentina Shevchenko a year later due to weight cut complications, she was stripped. After a six-month USADA suspension and several bout cancelations, Montano was released from the UFC in August 2021.