MMAFrenzy.com has confirmed with the Hayward, California Police Department that UFC welterweight Anthony Johnson was arrested on June 27 on multiple charges relating to an alleged domestic violence incident involving his ex-girlfriend.
The charges include domestic violence, battery with a special relationship, criminal threats, and damaging a cell phone. Though he was arrested on felony charges, the District Attorney filed misdemeanor charges, each of which is punishable by up to a year in county jail and an undisclosed fine if convicted.
According to police, the incident took place at 10:49am PT on the 27th with Johnson then contacting police on his own before being arrested at 1:30pm that afternoon. Authorities said he was very cooperative and polite.
Details of the incident were not available, though based on the charges Johnson allegedly struck his ex-girlfriend during the incident and damaged a cell phone so that she was unable to contact police to report the incident.
When reached for comment, Nathan Brodnax of MMAagents, which represents Johnson, had no official comment on his arrest and could not confirm any details of the incident, but said they would be issuing an official statement later tonight or tomorrow.
Johnson, who was bailed out by an undisclosed party on the 27th through a bonding agency, is next scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on July 17th.
According to Twitter, Johnson is signing autographs from 6-7:30pm PT tonight at a Champs location in Las Vegas.
Attempts to reach the UFC for comment were unsuccessful.
Known for his knockout power, Johnson (7-2) is 4-2 in 6 UFC fights, including back-to-back knockout victories over Kevin Burns in December and Luigi Fioravanti in his most-recent bout in February, as well as a controversial loss to Burns last July. “Rumble” had been scheduled to fight Matt Brown at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale in June but withdrew from the matchup in May after injuring his knee during training. Johnson’s other UFC wins were first-round knockouts of Chad Reiner and Tommy Spear, while his other loss came against came against Rich Clementi in 2007 in just his second fight inside the Octagon.
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I hope for the sake of his career that he doesnt do jail time and isnt cut by the ufc, this kid is very talented and is a future contender if not champion imo. however just because of what I mentioned he shouldnt get a free pass, maybe he could “cop a deal” and only do community service or get probation. he is stupid for putting himself in this situation though. i get mad at my wife, [as im sure you guys do as well with your significant other] however i have never done anything physical like striking or pushing her. you gotta be smarter AJ!
Well I am someone who knows the victim very well and I say forget his career he needs some serious help! This isn’t the first time that he has victimized her, but rather the first time that she got the guts to follow-thru with the police! On a prior altercation, he hit her on the side of her head causing her to black out and have to get stiches (she is wearing the scar!!). What people do not know is that he not only pushed her, but after kicking in her door (which she replaced a few months ago after he did the same thing), he also choked her. There have been numerous calls to the police and this is the 5th phone she has had to replace due to his outburts. He also threatened to kill her as well as himself! It is sickening to know that he has spoke in several juvenile facilities to at-risk youth, when he needs to help himself first! This type of behavior should never be tolerated! He is a trained fighter whose hands are weapons! With one blow, he not only could kill a man of similar stature, but definately an untrained woman not equal in size!!!
Color me skeptical about this fine account…
This statement by a supposed close friend of the victime is completely and utterly false. SHAME ON YOU and HER TOO!!!
I’m equally skeptical about the comment above this one.
There is never one truth and one falsehood, there is only the area in between.
I published this comment because it appears to be legitimate in that the IP is from California and that some of the details match what I’ve heard from sources but not published, but there’s obviously no way to confirm the person or their comments validity.
There’s two sides to every story and everyone should always take comments like this with a grain of salt.
wow this sucks, I hope that this is some crazy misunderstanding, a woman shouldn’t be touched and well we all know that… In california “damaging a cell phone”, can also be considered what they like to call “false inprisonment” or “held against one’s will” which by lawyer talk is essentially kidnapping soo that sucks, California is tricky with stuff like this, and well we will just have to wait til the facts are in I guess…… Sucks and bad decision allegedly made here..
I agree, we should wait until all the facts are in before we start kicking around who did what to whom and so forth.
Of course I wish Rumble well both personally and professionally.
Lets be honest people… they only put Misd. charges on him. He has no prior history that is documented.. SO guess what.. He will take a plea go to anger managment classes, pay a fine, and if the Court will impose a restraining order. That is if the victim is willing to go through with it all.. Victims caught up in the cycle of violence tend to go back. JC hope you have pull with your friend (good luck)
IF true, it sucks and is not right… Jdubb unfortunately I would have to agree, that with the mis,,, charges if convicted he wouldn’t spend anytime behind bars, and well he most likely could plea out to community service (anger management) or something else a PSA would most likely be put in there…
Is this an example of a young man not knowing how to cope with fame, or anger or the fact that he feels as tho his career is threatend by the knee issues? I by no means am making excuses, just thinking aloud, nice that the FrenZy “broke” the story I just wish it was a different story all together…
Well, there are two sides to every story. I hope that he didn’t do what he is accused of, it’s wrong and not a good situation. I am certainly pulling for his story of innocence to prove to be true. I know for a fact that people make up vicious accusations for sometimes no reason, and sometimes money. (Duke Lacrosse Case, and the false rape claim the same woman levied 12 years earlier). If it’s true, then it truly sucks and I hope he gets fitting punishment, if it’s not true, I hope that the truth does come out, and he is not public destroyed as a result of false accusations.
“The worst thing about our soceity is that it revels in people’s difficult times.”…Natalie Portman. Let’s not stand in judgement or cast stones. Let the court handle the situation.
Natalie Portman… very nice, I like her.
Editor’s note: MMAFrenzy.com cannot verify the validity of this comment, which claims to provide additional details on this situation. Though the IP of this commenter is from Hayward, California, please keep this lack of confirmation in mind and that those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
I to am a friend to the victim and read in amazement all of the rumors etc. I have witnessed her injuries first hand from the stitches he gave her when he went into a rage after being caught cheating to the time two days prior to the loss of their first child in Aug 08 when he choked her to the point of unconsciousness!! Mr. Johnson is regarded as a great fighter, however he is an abusive, angry out of control man!! To put the rumors to rest, June 27, Mr. Johnson kicked the victims door in, body slammed and pushed the victim a number of times prior to destroying her cell phone which held “hard” evidence of his recent threat to “Kill her and then himself!” Yes the evidence will all come out in court and hopefully the DA and the UFC will not tolerate such outlandish behavior from someone who is TRAINED to fight!!!
You were probably the person who “leaked” this incident to the media looking for your 15 minutes of fame.
Are you the victim’s offical spokesperson? Did the victim, your friend, give you permission to blast her very private, very personal business on the net? If you are truly her friend, you’d find a way to be supportive of her without betraying her confidence by telling the world her private business. Were you the one who tipped of the media because you just couldn’t keep your mouth shut? Shame on you.
Will you all just drop this, and stop trying to act like you know something?
Kris, Justin, please do something. There are NO constructive comments on this post, or the other…can’t we lock them?
“The charges include domestic violence, battery with a special relationship…” – can someone explain ‘battery w/ a special relationship’? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, lol. Johnson (allegedly) battered a special relationship?
Our usage of English in the US is getting really bad.
It’s battery with a special relationship because the crime allegedly occurred against someone with whom he previously had a relationship. In simpler terms, it was domestic violence as opposed to battery during a fight with a stranger or a similar scenario to that.
THIS IS FUNNY BECAUSE ANTHONY JOHNSON IS A VERY GOOD GUY I KNOW HIM PERSONALLY. IM NOT TAKING SIDES AT ALL BUT IM AROUND HIM ALL THE TIME AND HE’S NEVER SHOWED ANY SIGNS OF ANGER PROBLEMS. HE’S ALWAYS LAUGHING AND CRACKING JOKES ON PEOPLE AND WILLING TO HELP OTHERS. I WILL SAY THIS THOUGH IS THAT HE WAS TRYING TO BE A GOOD FRIEND TO THIS SO CALLED VICTIM WHEN SHE NEEDED SOMEONE IN HER CORNER. SHE TOLD HIM HER MOTHER WAS TRYING TO KILL HERSELF AND HER DAD COULD POSSIBLY DIE FROM A OPERATION HE WAS SUPPOSE TO HAVE. LIKE ANY MAN HE WAS BEING THERE FOR HER AS A FRIEND AND THATS ALL BUT NOT KNOWING SHE WAS WANTING TO GET BACK WITH HIM. HE ONLY SAW HER AS A FRIEND AND SOMETIMES LADIES CAN’T TAKE THAT. IF HE HIT HER FOR REAL WHERE ARE THE FLIPPING PICTURES OF HER FACE BUSTED UP BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW HE CAN HIT VERY HARD AND IF IT’S REALLY THE TRUTH THEN WHY DID IT COME OUT TWO WEEKS LATER INSTEAD OF THE NEXT DAY? WE ALL HAVE TO THINK OF THIS AND I ALSO KNOW FROM THINGS I’VE SEEN FROM THIS LADY IS THAT SHE WILL SWITCH ON YOU IN THE BLINK OF A EYE. I TOOK AJ TO HER PLACE TO GET HIS THINGS ONE DAY AFTER THEY BROKE UP AND I WENT UPSTAIRS WITH HIM. HE WAS TRYING TO GET HIS THINGS AND WHEN HE WENT INTO THE ROOM TO TRY AND GET HIS THINGS SHE STARTED PUSHING HIM KICKING AND EVEN PUSHED HIS HEAD AGAINST THE WALL. HE LOOKING AT ME ASHAMED OF HOW SHE ACTED WITH HIM AND I WAS THERE. HE DIDNT LIFT A HAND OR SAY A SINGLE WORD HE JUST KEPT WALKING TO GET HIS BELONGINGS. I FEEL FOR AJ BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE ARE THINKING HE IS A BAD GUY WHEN HE IS REALLY A GREAT GUY TO BE AROUND. HE’S NEVER BEEN IN TROUBLE AND NEVER STARTS TROUBLE HE’S NOT ABOUT THAT. IF YOU KNEW AJ THE WAY I KNOW AJ THEN YOU’D UNDERSTAND HOW POLITE THIS REALLY IS AND HOW REAL HE REALLY IS.
i know anthony to be a very sweet caring man. he told me what happened that day and i believe him. my uncle is a celebrity and he recently went thru a similar incident, personally i think it’s a case of the victim not being able to take rejection well. sometimes when a bad relationship is finally over, you can’t be friends for a long time because if your nice to that person they tend to think the relationship still has a second chance.
wow.. its very interesting and there are always two sides to every story.. if ANTHONY RUMBLE JOHNSON was so innocent why does he have pre-trial on Nov12?! Why did a 5 YEAR Restraining/Protective Order just imposed against him?!!? If all the accusations are false then why are they continuing with his criminal case at this extent?! Furthermore.. it should be noted that he is currently weighing well over 200lbs a month from his fight.. my bet is he will not make weight, once again have to fake an injury to protect his “image”. Anyone that knows Mr. Johnson he is a habitual liar, unmotivated individual who will not make weight for his fight Oct 24th!!! Mark my word.. he has soooo much personal drama that he has brought on himself that he can’t focus. Anthony Rumble Johnson is sincerly a waste of talent and the UFC should cut him!!
UFCFAN you are talking alot as if you know him from head to toe. You are probably the one who is putting him through so much or a friend of the female thats lieing on him. Do you train with him or hang out with him every day? If not SHUT UP!!! Don’t act like you know something when you really don’t. People like you just talk and talk just to keep things going because you want something negative to say towards someone. Get a life and stop being stupid judging someone just it’s because of what you think.
sooooo SILENT BOB or shall we call u DAMON from KNOXX his “ROOMIE”.. LOL.. yeah I’m a friend of hers, been holding her hand as she has gone to Domestic Violence Court getting his restraining order imposed.. haha.. you and he are a joke!! Don’t try and cover for him when you know all of the information printed is the truth!! Any individual who would like to dispute it, feel free to call the Alameda County Court in Hayward it is all public record!! And for all of those questioning her credibility justice will prevail on NOv 12th!! As for his fight in Oct, lets see if he makes weight!! The only form of cardio he is getting is sleeping with all of those women behind his wifes back!! REAL NICE GUY!! ROLE MODEL FOR TODAYS YOUTH!!
Please take this sob story somewhere else. The frenZy is a drama-free site, and I think I speak for almost everyone when I say we’d like to keep it that way…
it’s always gonna be he say she say so yeah we will see and when he is proven not guilty bet you’ll shut your mouth then or you’ll run your mouth just like she does. you haven’t seen what she has done to him I was there but there is no point of fussing about it that’s you do.
just because she said it doesn’t make it the truth. there is always two side’s
hater hater aj will make weight and he will win his fight. he looses that much weight for his fights all the time. thats what he does and he has alot of talent and your just trying to destroy his name and take his focus of his fight.he has good people in his corner including me. he is separated from his wife and he can sleep with whoever he wants to the victim is just mad cause he doesn’t want to lay pipe to her anymore.like i said before she can’t take rejection well and if he choked her out and put stiches in her head why didnt she press charges then and keep going back with him-no she waits till he breaks a stupid cell phone and now all of a sudden he is a crazy outraged man he probably tried to leave the victim numorous times and she wouldnt take no for an answer and thats why he was cheating. he is young making money and loves being inthe ufc. just let him live his life and let it go there are plenty of single men out there but oh- i forgot didn’t you say if you couldn’t have him no one could lol