(Props: wiu81. Side-view is here, if you’re an MMA mugshot completist.)

According to jailbase.com, former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez was arrested last Sunday, May 15th, in Maricopa County, Arizona. Charges were listed as assault, failure to appear, and resisting arrest. We have no more info at this time, but we’ll update you as soon as we do. By the way, if you feel like checking out the mugshots of everybody who was arrested in Maricopa County on 5/15, click here. It’s like a broke-ass game of Guess Who. (“Is your person an obvious tranny? Does your person look like he needs a bath?”)

(Photoprops: FightoftheNight.com)

Two-and-a-half years after being accused of raping a former girlfriend, Jeremy Jackson‘s felony trial finally began earlier this month; the former UFC fighter and TUF 4 contestant had been in jail since his June 2008 arrest, unable to post the $1 million bond. But in a surprising turn of events, Jackson changed his plea to guilty midway through the trial, and now faces 25 years to life in prison. The Ventura County Star passes along more details:

The change of plea stunned [Jackson's] lawyer, Russell Baker, who is with the Public Defender’s Office. “It was against my advice. I tried to tell him not to do that,” said Baker in an interview, adding that he was extremely disappointed. “I feel that we could have beaten his case.”

The alleged victim testified that Jackson had threatened, intimidated and raped her on June 28, 2008. She said Jackson put a gun to her head. Prosecutors say it was a BB gun. She said Jackson wanted her to call another man and have sex in front of him. She said he threatened to kill her, her children and himself if she didn’t do what he said.

(Luckily, Falcao listed a prescription for assault on his pre-fight medicals. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Maybe that video of Maiquel Falcao‘s savage and prolonged beating of an old opponent should have served as a warning that the dude is a bit of a loose cannon. According to Diario Popular (via MMA Mania) Falcao was arrested on a corporal assault charge today in Pelotas, Brazil, by local police. The Chute Boxe prospect was pinched after giving an interview to Grupo Brasil de Comunicação, and offered no resistance while being arrested, according to witnesses. No other details have been released yet, but we’ll update you when we know more. From MMA Junkie:

The Brazilian native was detained after a warrant for his arrest was issued in relation to a 2002 assault charge. MMAjunkie.com confirmed with Falcao’s management that the fighter is currently incarcerated, though the Chute Boxe product hopes to be released as soon as today. According to Falcao’s camp, the Brazilian was ordered in 2002 to serve a 24-month house-arrest sentence. After eight months, Falcao moved to a new home, though his lawyer advised him that the Brazilian authorities would have no issue with him completing the sentence in a new location. Today, Falcao returned to his hometown, as he reportedly has several times since 2002, but authorities elected to take him into custody…[Falcao's] camp did insist the matter was unlikely to affect his Octagon career.

Oddly enough, Falcao’s bust wasn’t the only MMA-related assault case in the news today. After the jump, an MMA fighter finds himself on the receiving end of a weird dust-up in Albuquerque…

("A new job, and a place to crash for the night? This is too good to be true!")

In late May, Kim Couture caught a domestic violence charge after an argument with her personal assistant turned violent; she’s due in court today to answer the charges. Well, it took four months, but MMANewsLeak finally got their sticky little hands on the police report, which sheds more light on the bizarre situation. As we already knew, Couture and her P.A. first got into an argument at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas. Here’s what happened next…

The victim left Mandalay Bay in a separate vehicle and went to Ms. Couture’s home where the victim had been living for approximately 3 weeks. The victim intended to retrieve her belongings and move out of Ms. Couture’s home before Ms. Couture returned home in order to avoid another confrontation.

As the victim was packing her belongings and preparing to move out, Ms. Couture arrived at the house she shared with the victim. Ms. Couture then went to the victims’ room and once inside the victims’ room, Ms. Couture allegedly blocked the door preventing the victim from leaving and then engaged in a heated argument with the victim, which subsequently led to Ms. Couture knocking/pushing the victim onto the bed. It is alleged that Ms. Couture then began choking and shaking the victim.

(Oh come on, that doesn’t look so bad. Photo courtesy of purposeinc.com)

Notable ex-wife Kim Couture has officially entered the "abusing personal assistants" stage of her career — a critical step in the path to divahood. As first reported by MMANewsLeak.com, the MMA pioneer (in her own mind) got into a little dust up on Friday that ended with her cooling off in jail on domestic violence charges:

Sources report that Ms. Couture allegedly got into a heated argument with her personal assistant at the home which they share and when police officers arrived at the scene, Ms. Couture was choking her personal assistant and that the personal assistant had visible signs of abuse. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police took Ms. Couture into custody and booked into Clark County Detention Center. Sources also allege that Ms. Couture and her personal assistant got into a heated argument on Friday at UFC Fan Expo at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada…

(Do a shot every time Tito’s attorney says "unfortunately." Video courtesy of KTLA via MMA Weekly.)

Directly after being released by the Huntington Beach Police Department yesterday on $25,000 bail, Tito Ortiz and his attorney Chip Matthews organized a news conference in North Hollywood to address his domestic assault charges. Their side of the story goes like this: Ortiz "never laid a hand on" his girlfriend Jenna Jameson. Jameson, an OxyContin addict for over a year (so they say), relapsed on the notorious painkiller, and when Tito confronted her about some pills that he’d found in their house, things got heated. After he left, she contacted the police department through another individual; her father Larry Massoli, reportedly. An emotional Ortiz thanked his fans and family for their support. He said he saw his parents go through addiction, and wouldn’t let it affect his family again. "I hold everything dear to my heart that Jenna will be okay," he said.

Of course, Jenna’s account of what transpired is markedly different…

(Where’s Benson and Stabler when you need them?)

From a new report on MMAJunkie:

Mixed martial arts veteran Mike Whitehead has been arrested and charged with three felonies including sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, and open and gross lewdness, according to a release from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department issued today. If convicted, each charge carries a minimum of one year in prison, according to Barbara Morgan, a Public Information Officer with the LVPD.

Whitehead turned himself into the LVPD’s Investigative Services Division on Wednesday. Detectives arrested him after he declined to answer questions about a sexual assault of an adult female that he was allegedly involved in this past Saturday, Morgan said. Whitehead is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center. His bail has not been set.