MMAPredictions

Jon Koppenhaver (center) and his legal defense team, Cole Casey (l) and Matt Terry (r).

Although none of his fights have ever gone to decision in his MMA career, UFC fighter Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver can surely claim a victory by way of judge’s decision today. Koppenhaver had been found guilty of an autumn 2007 assault in which he was accused of choking out a man and continuing to strike him outside his San Diego mixed martial arts training facility, Undisputed.

Koppenhaver was eligible for prison time if the court ruled his actions to be a felony assault. In a hearing that lasted less than thirty minutes, Judge Frank Brown asked the district attorney what the state recommended for Koppenhaver’s sentence. The district attorney responded that they were not opposed to a reduction in the sentence from a felony to a misdemeanor. The move echoes comments made by the assault victim (not present in court today) that he did not wish to derail Koppenhaver’s promising MMA career.

After a long pause, Judge Brown responded, “…Wow. Not a case that would normally be reduced. You hurt somebody,” he said, looking at Koppenhaver.

As the hearing proceeded, the judge’s tone softened when he explained his decision. “There is no good calling you a felon… We’re going to take a chance on you. We want you to pursue your career and we wish you well. I’m hopeful this is the right decision.”

The judge, who stated he wished to spare Koppenhaver prison time and the lifelong title of felon, emphasized that there would be no second chances in the future. “The next time this happens, the defendant will head to state prison,” warned Judge Brown.

Ultimately the twenty-six year old Koppenhaver will receive three years of probation and thirty days of public service to be completed in the next 18 months. His ability to travel and compete in mixed martial arts should not be affected by the sentence.

After the hearing, Koppenhaver’s attorney G. Cole Casey commented on the ruling. “I think Jon has benefited from a couple of things, the first being a victim that was very much a stand-up guy that came in and said, ‘Look this was an unfortunate incident’, but he didn’t want to see Jon’s career ruined. He just wanted restitution out of it and Jon made the payment and took care of that right away. We couldn’t have asked for a better judge to be in front of. Judge Brown has a reputation with the courts of dancing to his own drum. He doesn’t care what anybody thinks, he does what he thinks is the right thing. And we had an exceptionally good deputy district attorney Dave Williams… All of us working together were able to step back and say, ‘What’s the absolute right thing to do here?’ You’ve got a young man here that’s on the verge of something really big with his career. Why derail that over one incident? The court’s given him a chance. I’ve gotten to know Jon very well during this process and I know he’s going to go on, he’s going to kick ass, and do everything we expect of him and put this whole thing behind him.”

Law clerk Matt Terry, who assisted in “War Machine”’s defense added, “Jon understands, and we all understand, that Dana White as a policy does not condone or approve in any way bullies, or any of that tough guy mentality. They have a real strict policy in the UFC against that type of behavior. Justice was served here because it was understood that this was an isolated incident. Despite the grenade (tattoo) on his neck and what a bad ass he is inside the octagon, Jon’s a good-hearted guy… I think he represents the UFC well despite this isolated incident.”

Koppenhaver, who is bound to a UFC contract of three years or ten fights with the UFC (whichever comes first), has announced that he will be fighting May 24th against an as-yet-unnamed opponent.

- Caleb

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