UFC veteran Anthony Johnson arrested for domestic violence

Former UFC fighter Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was arrested for domestic violence on Monday in Florida. MMAWeekly.com confirmed the arrest by the Boca Raton Police Services, following an initial report by TMZ Sports.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, a woman called police to report an altercation with her boyfriend, Johnson. The woman claimed that she was packing Johnson’s belongings when he picked her up and “put her in a football hold” and carried her to another room.

The report went on to say that Johnson admitted picking her up and carrying her, but said that he never had any intent to hurt her.

The nature of the incident warranted Johnson being taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor battery (touch or strike), which occurs when a person touches or strikes another person against their will or intentionally causes bodily harm to another person.

Police indicated that the woman did not appear to have any visible injuries.

This wasn’t the first time that Johnson had been arrested on a domestic violence charge. He was also arrested in 2009, stemming from an incident with an ex-girlfriend. He was eventually convicted on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence and sentenced to three years of court probation, eight hours of community service, one day of county jail, and ordered to undergo 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling.

Anthony Johnson’s UFC career

Johnson, 35, hasn’t fought mixed martial arts since losing to Daniel Cormier in a battle for the light heavyweight title at UFC 210 on April 8, 2017.

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He initially made an impact in MMA in the welterweight division, but never fully hit his stride until he moved to light heavyweight and heavyweight, where he defeated the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Alexander Gustafsson, Ryan Bader, and others.

Johnson twice fought and lost to Cormier, each time with the UFC light heavyweight championship on the line. He has said that the lone bout that he has considered returning to MMA for is a heavyweight fight with Jon Jones.