The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) has always proven to be a fertile breeding ground for interesting, bizarre, oddball, and off-the-wall characters.
In this article, we’ll celebrate that fact by taking a closer look at 10 of the craziest, one-of-a-kind fighters ever to have set foot in the cage.
Charles ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett
MMA veteran Charles Bennett undoubtedly owns one of the most fitting nicknames in MMA – ‘Krazy Horse.’
Outside of the cage, Bennett has a long criminal record, being arrested multiple times for everything from possessing and selling drugs to robbery and aggravated assault, but it’s his outrageous antics in the cage and ring that he’s best known for.
For instance, in ‘King Of The Cage,’ he once picked up an opponent, gave the ‘peace’ sign to a nearby camera, then proceeded to swing his opponent in the air and slam him into the cage – a unique move later named, ‘the helicopter slam.’
Meanwhile, in an infamous backstage incident during PRIDE Shockwave 2005, Bennett got into a fight with Cristiano Marcello and was choked out on camera, only to regain consciousness and then claim afterward that he KO’d Wanderlei Silva.
The latter incident wasn’t caught on tape and has been hotly disputed ever since, and years later Bennett joked that the still fuming Brazilian would never be able to get to him, because, “I’m a n**ger’ and I run real fast.”
(Spit-bags: The sure sign of a bad time. Photo courtesy of TMZ.)
By Ben Goldstein and Jason Moles
The rule applies in any profession: For every law-abiding nice-guy, there’s an unstable son-of-a-bitch who you’d never want to leave your kids alone with. In honor of Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season being released on DVD and Blu-ray, we decided to take a ride through MMA’s shadowy history of assault, robbery, vandalism, drug-smuggling, and other nasty behavior — the most infamous examples of fighters living dangerously and paying the price…
#16: Jeff Monson Arrested for: First-degree malicious mischief; assault on a female and injury to real property
It’s never a good idea to have evidence of your law-breaking published nationally. In a bizarre lapse of judgment, heavyweight veteran Jeff Monson was busted after he allowed ESPN the Magazine to photograph him spray-painting an anarchy symbol on the Washington state capitol building. Though the charge packed a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, the Snowman was able to plead down to three months. Just days later, Monson was arrested again when a domestic dust-up with one of his many love-interests resulted in an overturned grandfather clock and a fist-shaped hole in the wall; those charges were later dismissed.
(Spit-bags: The sure sign of a bad time. Photo courtesy of TMZ.)
By Ben Goldstein and Jason Moles
The rule applies in any profession: For every law-abiding nice-guy, there’s an unstable son-of-a-bitch who you’d never want to leave your kids alone with. In honor of Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season being released on DVD and Blu-ray, we decided to take a ride through MMA’s shadowy history of assault, robbery, vandalism, drug-smuggling, and other nasty behavior — the most infamous examples of fighters living dangerously and paying the price…
#16: Jeff Monson Arrested for: First-degree malicious mischief; assault on a female and injury to real property
It’s never a good idea to have evidence of your law-breaking published nationally. In a bizarre lapse of judgment, heavyweight veteran Jeff Monson was busted after he allowed ESPN the Magazine to photograph him spray-painting an anarchy symbol on the Washington state capitol building. Though the charge packed a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, the Snowman was able to plead down to three months. Just days later, Monson was arrested again when a domestic dust-up with one of his many love-interests resulted in an overturned grandfather clock and a fist-shaped hole in the wall; those charges were later dismissed.
Last May, MMA’s most famous ex-wife ended an argument with her personal assistant by choking and shaking her on a bed. Couture was reportedly upset that the assistant wanted to move out of her house after living there for three weeks. The original report left us with these unsettling lines: “It seems that part of the friction that developed between the victim and Ms. Couture was that Ms. Couture was extremely controlling; she wouldn’t permit the victim any autonomy; and the implication that Ms. Couture wanted something more from the victim than just personal assistant services.”
#14: Harold Howard Arrested for: Aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm, dangerous driving, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, etc.
The short version? He attacked two relatives with a claw hammer, then crashed his pick-up truck through the front doors of a Niagara Falls casino. It was later revealed that Howard had been self-medicating with a head-scrambling blend of Oxycocet, Gabapentin, and sleeping pills. Which begs the question: What was he on when he was cutting promos for UFC 3?
#13: Kimo Leopoldo Arrested for: Possession of a controlled substance, impersonating an officer
The famously undead UFC veteran was arrested in 2009 for hanging out in a Long Beach Police Department jumpsuit with drugs in his car. Leopoldo pleaded no-contest to stealing the police uniform, which earned him a mere 10 days of community service. However, what was first reported as meth turned out to be marijuana instead — still bad, but not lock ‘em up bad. After agreeing to a stint in rehab and three years’ probation, the misdemeanor charges were dropped.
#12: Vyacheslav Datsik Arrested for: Escaping from a Russian mental hospital by tearing through a chain link fence with his bare hands; he had been behind bars for three years for a previous string of armed robberies and death threats.
After a month on the lam, the nutty self-professed racist turned himself in to authorities in Norway, bringing along two loaded pistols for no good reason. The last we heard, he’d been granted temporary asylum in Norway after a Norwegian police psychiatrist argued that Datsik had been intentionally misdiagnosed as insane due to his undesirable political leanings. What the hell? Don’t these dudes have YouTube?
#11: Jeremy Jackson Arrested for: Forcible rape, kidnapping to commit another crime, first-degree residential burglary, assault with a firearm, dissuading a witness by force or threat, and criminal threats.
In 2008, the TUF 4 castmember was accused of breaking into an ex-girlfriend’s house and raping her at gunpoint. During the trial, the victim’s credibility came under fire, and it seemed that Jackson had a shot at going free. But Jackson changed his mind midway through and decided to plead guilty, going against the advice of his lawyer. According to one juror, Jackson “only pleaded guilty because he was depressed and wanted the trial to end.” He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Continue to the next page for Krazy Horse’s gym assault, Junie Browning’s hospital freak-out and more…
(If you don’t know the backstory on this one, Krazy Horse claims to have knocked Wand out back stage at a PRIDE Bushido event, which led to him later being choked out by Cris Marcello -VidProps MegaSlim7)
Some selected highlights from our friends aro…
(If you don’t know the backstory on this one, Krazy Horse claims to have knocked Wand out back stage at a PRIDE Bushido event, which led to him later being choked out by Cris Marcello -VidProps MegaSlim7)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
(Props: clearwatertopteam via ‘grenade’ on the UG)
Say what you will about his well-documented insanity and love of getting arrested. You can’t deny that Charles "Krazy Horse/Kid Kaos" Bennett is a creative juggernaut who was using the cage t…
Say what you will about his well-documented insanity and love of getting arrested. You can’t deny that Charles "Krazy Horse/Kid Kaos" Bennett is a creative juggernaut who was using the cage to his advantage long before Anthony Pettis was picking up Breakthrough Fighter of the Year accolades. Here’s a highlight from one of Bennett’s old King of the Cage bouts where he defends an armbar by picking up his opponent and giant-swinging him into the cage. Now that you’re in the mood, we’ve compiled five more classic Krazy Horse moments after the jump. Shine on, you crazy diamond.
