UFC vet Tony Martin requests removal of GPS monitor after December arrest

Former UFC fighter Tony Martin was arrested in December and charged with assault on a law enforcement officer. | Photo by Christian Petersen/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC

Tony Martin is requesting removal of GPS monitor as he awa…


Former UFC fighter Tony Martin was arrested in December and charged with assault on a law enforcement officer.
Former UFC fighter Tony Martin was arrested in December and charged with assault on a law enforcement officer. | Photo by Christian Petersen/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC

Tony Martin is requesting removal of GPS monitor as he awaits trial for assault on a law enforcement officer charge

Tony Martin (aka Anthony Rocco Martin), who fought for the UFC between 2014-2020, and last competed under the CES banner, was arrested on December 21, 2022, in Bonita Springs, Florida. Deputies charged Martin with one count of misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement officer.

Martin was arrested and booked into the Lee County Justice Center at 5:16 am. He was later bonded out of custody, with a bail set at $5,000. During Martin’s bail hearing, the judge gave the former UFC fighter two addresses in Bonita Springs, Florida to stay away from. Martin was also fitted with a GPS monitoring device and told to have no contact with one of the Deputies involved with his arrest.

A hearing on the misdemeanor charge was scheduled for January 10, 2023, but Martin’s lawyer filed a request for a jury trial on a not-guilty plea. As a result, Martin remains free on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on February 22, 2023.

On January 14, Martin’s lawyer requested that the GPS monitor Martin was fitted with when he was bonded out be removed. According to his lawyer’s filing, the address where Martin was staying in Bonita Springs was an Airbnb rental and the fighter is not a threat to the Deputy. Martin’s lawyer also wrote that her client, whose permanent address is in Minnesota, owns a construction company in that state where he works. She wrote of the GPS monitoring unit, “it interferes with him wearing steal [sic] toe boots. Additionally, the GPS monitor digs into the Defendant’s skin, causing major discomfort while working construction.”

The motion to modify Martin’s pre-trial release and remove his GPS monitor will be heard by a judge in Lee County, Florida, on February 6, 2023.