arrested

(Photo courtesy of Knucklepit.)

2009 is turning out to be a blockbuster year for MMA fighters fooling around and falling in jail. First we had Josh Neer arrested for hit-and-run/DUI. Then Jeff Monson was thrown in the pokey for grandfather clock abuse. Then War Machine got himself placed under citizen's arrest at the gay club where he works. (Man, that gets funnier every time we write it.) And now it's Kimo Leopoldo, the UFC old-timer and dark-horse candidate for CSAC executive officer. If you guessed "drug-related," congratulations, you are smarter than a fifth grader. TMZ, as usual, breaks it:

(Shit's about to get real, son.  Real bad.)

Five Ounces of Pain is passing along a report that everyone’s favorite MMA screw-up, War Machine, was arrested in Las Vegas for battery early Saturday morning.  That’s right, the same guy who recently lost a job opportunity with Bellator for his comments about President Obama, which came after he was kicked out of the UFC for his comments about Evan Tanner/refusal to fight Brandon Wolff.  

To make matters worse, this was apparently a citizen’s arrest, meaning some guy (or woman, we don’t know) on the street grabbed War Machine after he battered someone and then held him there for the cops.  Or, more likely, it happened in a club or casino and security detained him, though I like the first explanation better for the visual imagery it conjures up.

War Machine was already on probation in California for beating up someone outside a gym, so unless he can prove his innocence in this case – and let’s be honest, you knew when you saw the headline that he was guilty – he’s probably going to do some time.

As much as we like mocking those who have aggressively proved themselves deserving of such mockery, War Machine’s life has recently moved beyond pure schadenfreude and into the realm of the genuinely depressing.  Though he did bring it on himself (repeatedly) while demonstrating a complete unwillingness to learn from his past mistakes.  You know where he could make friends who share those fun little traits?  Prison.

(Get used to being in a cage, my man.)

Things just got worse for MMA’s favorite anarchist, Jeff Monson.  He was arrested this weekend in North Carolina on a charge unrelated to his malicious mischief trouble in Olympia, Washington.  Now he’s in jail on suspicion of “assault on a female and injury to real property.”  Girl troubles gone terribly wrong, in other words.  How disappointing.  

The Olympian got the story from 30-year-old Stephanie Trapani, of Advance, North Carolina, who apparently had a thing going with “The Snowman”:

Trapani says she had a romantic relationship with Monson, but they got in an argument after found out he had romantic relationships with other women. She also alleges "he has two wives." She said she found out information about his other girlfriends on his cell phone and she then threw the cell phone out the window of her car while she was driving to pick him up at the gym. When he found out his cell phone was gone when they returned to Trapani's home, he got angry. "He went ballistic," she said.

Here's a little taste of Brock Lesnar's appearance on ESPN's E:60 tonight at 7 pm EST (which is like, now). The interview seems to be taking place in a barn for some reason. I'm sure it will all make sense when we see the whole thing. In other news...

- Luke Cummo was arrested and charged with "driving while impaired with drugs" in Lynbrook, New York last week. He wasn't drunk, but was reportedly tested for a drug that officials would not name. Fightlinker says Cummo claimed, at least briefly, that he got a contact high from being in a room full of people smoking pot, and this was exacerbated by eating a bunch of chicken wings. Seriously. He's pleaded not guilty, and we really hope he decides to represent himself in this case because that would be awesome.

- Matt Hughes says on his website that he talked to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva this week and he may finally get his shot at Matt Serra in April. He also went bowhunting and bagged a deer.

- The UFC sent out a press release today officially announcing three fights for the stacked UFC 92 event on Dec. 27. As expected, Rashad Evans/Forrest Griffin, Wanderlei Silva/"Rampage" Jackson, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira/Frank Mir are on tap. Said Evans:

"Forrest fights from the heart just like me, and everyone underestimates Forrest until they get in there with him, like me. I think he and I are going to be like Ali vs. Frazier – this will be the first time we meet, but it won’t be the last, so I want to set the precedent."

(Photos courtesy of TMZ.com)

Big trouble in the Thirty Mile Zone:

Former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson got busted just minutes ago, and is currently in custody on the way to the clink, but not before he was [ordered] on the ground, cops nearby with guns drawn.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Rampage was in a car crash near Newport Beach (that's near Laguna Beach in the O.C.) and then split the scene. Cops gave chase and eventually caught up and charged him with felony hit and run and felony evading arrest.

Here's the deal about the dumbest hit and run ever. Notice the truck he tried evading police in — the one with the giant picture of him plastered on the side!

We're told there could be additional charges. No word yet on whether Rampage resisted arrest.

A couple more details from the Daily Pilot via Bloody Elbow:

Jackson, the driver of a lifted, gray pick-up truck left crashed cars, shredded tires and sparks in his wake this afternoon when he led police on a short pursuit from the southbound 55 freeway exit onto Newport Boulevard where he hit at least three cars, police said.

The driver hit two cars at 19th Street and Newport Boulevard, then drove away at about 1:13 p.m., Lt. Paul Dondero said. A Costa Mesa police officer saw the driver southbound approaching 17th Street and tried to pull him over, police said. There, he hit at least one more car before continuing to run, now heading south toward the Balboa Peninsula, Dondero said. Some time after that, the truck blew a tire but continued to drive on its rims, Dondero said.

Jackson eventually gave up, pulled over and was arrested, police said. The whole chase lasted about five minutes, Dondero said.

I know that first picture looks like a movie shoot, or at the very least an episode of Punk'd gone FUBAR, but the situation is unfortunately real. Please, Quinton — one little loss is no reason to begin a dramatic downward spiral. More details to come...

UPDATE (8:45 p.m. ET): "There were no indications of drug or alcohol use by Rampage Jackson at the time of his arrest." Jackson is being held at the Costa Mesa City Jail in lieu of a $25,000.00 bail.