Who is the former UFC fighter who killed himself in jail?
Former UFC fighter Travis Fulton hanged himself in his jail cell after he pleaded guilty to charges of child pornography, reported The Gazette.
Fulton pleaded guilty to two of the four charges he was facing: sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.
Fulton had been held in the Linn County jail since February 2021. When staff approached his cell for a routine check, the 44-year-old was found "unresponsive," the Linn County Sheriff declared in a press release.
The sheriff's report also mentioned that county staff performed "life-saving measures" on Fulton, but to no avail. He was pronounced dead at 5 am on July 10.
According to charging documents obtained by ESPN, Fulton engaged in "sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions" with a minor below the age of 18.
The Iowa-born fighter was facing a maximum of 70 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Per The Gazette, Fulton was also accused of domestic abuse. The proceedings in the case were expected to take place later this year. Fulton reportedly punched a woman in the head and threatened to kill her and her family.
A glance at Travin Fulton's UFC career
Travis Fulton is best known for being the only MMA fighter with more than 300 professional fights. His record stands at 255-54-10 with one one no contest.
Fulton astonishingly finished 247 of his opponents with either submissions or KOs/TKOs in a career that spanned well over two decades.
He made his UFC debut at UFC 20 in 1999 against Pete Williams, where Fulton was submitted in the first round.
His second UFC outing took place in the same year opposite David Dodd. This time around, the Iowa native secured a unanimous decision win. It was also his last UFC fight.
Fulton then went on to compete in a multitude of promotions, including regional MMA organizations in Russia. His last MMA fight transpired in April 2019 under the M-1 Global banner. He won the bout via a second-round submission.
Apart from MMA, Fulton also explored the world of professional boxing and bare knuckle boxing.
He competed in 75 professional boxing bouts, winning 25 and losing 48 of them. Two of his fights resulted in a draw.
Fulton's sole bare knuckle boxing fight happened in 2019. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.