You couldn’t make this up if you tried.
On Friday, Anthony Johnson had a dramatic KO win over Jose Augusto in his Bellator MMA debut. On Saturday, he was arrested by Connecticut police.
Yes this is very much one of those “peak MMA” stories and it’s centered around the former UFC light heavyweight title challenger. Johnson was charged with third-degree identity theft after allegedly using a credit card stolen from a Fairfield County resident.
This incident actually dates back to November 2019 and a warrant was obtained for his arrest, and lo and behold guess who returned to Connecticut for his first fight since 2016?
The news was first reported by the Daily Voice. MMA Fighting has additional details from the official police report.
“On 11/09/2019 the New Canaan Police took a complainant regarding a victim having their credit card being used by a third party without permission,” New Canaan police stated in the arrest record for Johnson.
“The illegal use of the credit card was used to purchase a round-trip airline ticket from Ft. Lauderdale, FL (FLL) to Newark, NJ (EWR). The name of the passenger was Anthony Johnson. A subsequent Investigation determined Johnson used the illegally obtained credit card to purchase the airline ticket. An arrest warrant was obtained for Johnson for the above charges.”
Johnson was cited for spending less than $500 on a revoked payment card, and his identify theft charge is listed in Connecticut as a Class D felony which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine plus probation. He was released on just $500 bond and is scheduled to make a court appearance in June.
The 37-year-old Johnson is slated to face champion Vadim Nemkov in the Bellator LHW GP semifinals later this year… provided he doesn’t once again find himself facing criminal charges.