Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title contender, Anthony Johnson, was arrested on charges of alleged domestic violence last Monday night (May 6, 2019) following a physical altercation with his girlfriend.
That’s according to a report from TMZ Sports, which states that “Rumble” picked the victim up and carried her in a “football hold” after he was asked to leave the premises. Johnson reportedly told police his intention was not to cause harm, but to diffuse the situation.
There were no visible injuries and a written statement was not provided.
Bloody Elbow has more:
In their closing comments the arresting deputy wrote, “I believe Johnson actually and intentionally touched [the alleged victim] against her will, which is a violation of P. S. S. 784.03(1) Battery/Domestic Battery.”
Johnson was arrested and transported to Palm Beach County Jail without incident. After being charged with domestic battery Johnson was released on condition that he appears for scheduled court hearings.
Johnson is no stranger to domestic violence issues, having been arrested in 2009 for an altercation that landed him three years of probation. There was a second incident back in 2014 (more on that here) and most recently, “Rumble” was slapped with a restraining order for “an immediate present danger of dating violence.”
Johnson has since aligned himself with the bodybuilding community (see his jarring transformation here) and most recently joined Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) in a non-fighting role.
Stay tuned for more on this story, as it develops.