Travis Fulton, who fought a record 320 times as a mixed martial artist, was found dead in his jail cell early Saturday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Fulton is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell, where the 44-year-old was being held as he faced charges for child pornography. According to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Fulton was discovered at 4:00 AM local time during a routine cell check by prison staff. After attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, Fulton was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:00 AM.
Fulton had been confined to the Linn County Correctional Center since his arrest by the US Marshal’s Service on February 19. He was later indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography.
Travis Fulton Pleaded Guilty To Charges Hours Before Death
According to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, the charges allege that Fulton persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit content that was allegedly shipped across state lines in November 2020. Between November 2018 and November 2020, he was also accused of possessing pornography featuring a minor under the age of 12.
The Gazette confirmed that the day before his death, Fulton had agreed to plead guilty to two of the four charges against him—one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child porn. He was set to stand trial on July 23.
Fulton was also awaiting trial for domestic assault charges stemming from a September 2019 incident where he allegedly punched a woman in her head and back. He and the alleged victim were also charged with contempt after violating a protective order by meeting at a casino.
At the time of his arrest, Fulton hadn’t fought in almost two years, having defeated Shannon Ritch at an M-1 event in his last fight. Since making his MMA debut in 1996, the journeyman claimed victory on 255 occasions. He fought twice in the UFC, defeating David Dodd by unanimous decision and losing to Pete Williams via submission.
