Why was former UFC fighter Josh Grispi's wife on the Dr. Phil show?
Josh Grispi's wife, Kaitlyn, went on the popular American television show Dr. Phil in 2014 to defend her husband after alleged domestic abuse incidents against her. He was indicted at the time.
Josh Grispi, once a promising MMA star, was arrested in 2014 following charges of assault and battery on his wife and numerous others involving counts of improperly handling firearms near people underage.
Josh Grispi allegedly beat his wife with punches and kicks and incited his bull terrier dog to attack her. Kaitlyn managed to escape from her husband's grasp and reached a residence nearby, asking for help. After the police arrived and arrested Josh Grispi, they also searched his house and found 20 marijuana plants and 15 grams of cocaine.
Knowing each other since they were aged 13, Kaitlyn said at the time that Josh Grispi had abused her for the past two years of their three-year-long marriage.
However, she would drastically change her approach to the case after Josh Grispi went to jail. On Dr. Phil's television program, Kaitlyn strongly defended her husband and tried to justify all of his wrongdoings in a bizarre interview.
She started telling Dr. Phil that she did not consider death threats addressed at her by Josh Grispi over texting to be valid since she had made them too. We have translated the content of the text to simple English. It read as follows:
"You're ****ing dead. And if you even try to bring my kids into it, the worse it will be for you. And if you try to make a scene, I will choke you unconscious and smash your throat. And if you get worse and run around after, I'm going to let Buddy (the bull terrier dog) have at you, and I will walk out of the room. You better not be bluffing about cops because I don't joke, you're dead when I see you, literally," wrote Josh Grispi.
At one point in the interview with Dr. Phil, Kaitlyn claimed that Josh Grispi was a "good guy" and that his erratic behavior was due to the presence of "ghosts" in their house in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2017, Josh Grispi received a five-and-a-half-year sentence for his crimes and five years for probation after his time in jail. He was considered guilty on 25 of the 29 charges carried against him, which included animal cruelty and witness intimidation, besides the others already mentioned.
The former UFC featherweight contender was supposed to restart his MMA career in January 2020 against Bruce Boyington at NEF 42: Symphony of Destruction. However, the promotion informed that Josh Grispi had to withdraw from the fight because of legal complications.
Kaitlyn and Josh Grispi divorced while he was incarcerated. The couple had a son and a daughter together. She has since changed her speech regarding her husband, saying that she was scared of the consequences of telling the truth at that time.
Josh Grispi's career in the UFC
A promising featherweight contender with WEC, Josh Grispi, got offered a contract with the UFC in 2011. He made his debut in the promotion with a loss to Dustin Poirier - who also made his first appearance in the UFC in that fight.
However, the fight with Poirier was not the UFC's initial plan for Josh Grispi. He was booked to be the first challenger at Jose Aldo's featherweight title after unifying the UFC title with WEC's, but Aldo retreated from the bout due to injury.
After the debut with Poirier, Josh Grispi lost his next three fights in the promotion before being forced to retire because of his personal problems. He was defeated by George Hoop, Rani Yahya, and Andy Ogle.