The Ultimate Fighting Championship cut ties on Friday with two fighters embroiled in reports of ugly domestic violence incidents. The move looks like a direct effect of the widespread criticism the National Football League has received for its handling of domestic violence scandals. “The Ray Rice thing has created a ripple effect in the world of sports and of what is expected and what is tolerated,” says Scott Saul, lawyer for UFC fighter Thiago Silva. “It looks like the sport is clearing house of any appearances of impropriety.”
The actions by the UFC come as mixed martial arts—a sometimes brutal event fought inside a cage—is adding female fighters and making an appeal to female fans. This month, Fox Sports (FOX) kicked off a new season of the reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter that features a cast made up entirely of female UFC fighters.
In the case of Silva, the UFC reversed course on Friday, terminating his contract after re-signing the fighter earlier this month. Silva was arrested in Florida in February and charged with assaulting his estranged wife. In one attack, he allegedly stuck a gun in the woman’s mouth when she screamed. In another incident, he was chased down by a SWAT team and subdued with a taser gun. The Broward County state attorney dropped the charges after Silva’s former wife stopped cooperating and apparently fled the country. Silva has denied harming her, and after the charges were dropped the UFC president reinstated him, saying the fighter “deserves to be able to make a living again.”
The decision on Sept. 19 to terminate his contract was based on new video and audio evidence, the UFC said in a statement without elaborating. Saul said the statement appears to be referring to a video of the fighter brandishing a pistol during what is described as an argument with his wife. “Other than he is disappointed, he has nothing to say,” Saul said.
In the other case, the UFC said it’s indefinitely suspending fighter Anthony Johnson while a law firm hired by the company conducts a formal investigation. Without providing further details, the UFC refers only to being “aware of the situation involving Anthony Johnson.”
That situation seems to be one that surfaced in a report by Bloody Elbow, SB Nation’s mixed martial arts blog, detailing allegations by the mother of Johnson’s children that the light heavyweight contender has been abusive, including during a 2012 incident in which he allegedly knocked out two of her teeth.
On Facebook, Johnson thanked people for supporting him and made reference to lies he said were being told about him. His lawyer, Frank Smith, issued a statement saying Johnson “categorically denied all allegations.”
