Former UFC fighter Michael Graves sends threatening DMs to MMA journalist Amy Kaplan in Jon Jones' defense

Michael Graves sends threatening DMs to Amy Kaplan [Image credits: @gravesmma and @photoamy33 via Instagram]

The saga of the recent arrest of Jon Jones continues as former UFC fighter Michael Graves comes to his defense.

A day after FanSided editor, photographer, and journalist Amy Kaplan shared screenshots of enraged DMs from Jon Jones, Michael Graves reached out to her with his own opinion on the matter. Graves asked Kaplan to keep Jones' kids out of the discussion:

"Keep the kids out of it. Be a social justice warrior all u want. Don't forget there's real warriors out there," the text message from Graves read.

Amy Kaplan replied that she has personal experience as a domestic violence survivor and is entitled to her own opinion:

"I'm a domestic violence survivor and get very heated about this topic. We are all allowed our opinions, you don't have to like it."

She then went on to ask Graves if his message was meant to be a threat. In response, he sent a series of texts with derogatory slurs aimed at Kaplan as well as UFC employees in general.

Amy Kaplan posted a screenshot of the conversation tagging Titan FC, where Michael Graves was last employed.

HEY @TitanFighting ⤵️ https://t.co/zZfhcmMAd8

hEY @GravesMMA you wanna take your threats public? Or just DM? I'm not scared of you 😘

Kaplan also tweeted a 2017 MMA Fighting article reporting the news of Michael Graves' release from the UFC following an arrest on domestic violence charges. She also included screenshots of a number of tweets by Michael Graves which included homophobic slurs and public threats of violence.

https://t.co/8oSlQr7Kkw

UFC cut Michael Graves from their roster in April 2017 after conducting an investigation of their own on the domestic violence charges. Graves was arrested in October 2016 by Atlanta PD on misdemeanor charges of battery (family violence), as per Fulton County jail records. He was suspended from the promotion and was pulled from his scheduled fight against Sergio Moraes at UFC Fight Night 100, set to go down on November 19 in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Six months later, the UFC released the following statement announcing the removal of Michael Graves:

"In November 2016, welterweight Michael Graves was removed from his UFC bout following his arrest in Fulton County, Florida. As a potential violation of the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy, the UFC organization temporarily barred Graves from competition pending the completion of a third-party investigation. Based on the findings of this thorough review and investigation, UFC has advised Graves that he has been released from his contract effective immediately.

"UFC requires all athletes to act in an ethical and responsible manner, as mandated by the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy. UFC holds its athletes to the highest standard and will continue to take appropriate action if and when warranted."

After his UFC release, Michael Graves signed with Fight Nights Global and then with Titan FC.

Titan FC confirms Michael Graves is no longer with them

In response to Amy Kaplan's tweet, Titan FC sent out a statement claiming that Michael Graves is no longer associated with them.

We are aware of an ongoing situation with Mike Graves. We have no information and Mike has not been a contracted Titan fighter for some time.

At Titan FC, Graves faced Jared Gooden in his second promotional bout to become the interim welterweight champion. He was subsequently promoted to being undisputed champion but was stripped of the belt when he missed weight by 2 pounds against Oton Jasse in second title defense.