The ongoing saga of former UFC and Bellator MMA fighter War Machine has mercifully come to a close at long last (barring the inevitable appeal, of course). At sentencing today, the fighter, formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for thirty-six years. The sentence comes from a host of charges including sexual assault, kidnapping, coercion, battery by strangulation, and a number of others. On a pair of attempted murder charges, the jury was hung.
In the end, however, it doesn’t really matter. The earliest War Machine will be seeing the light of day will be at age 71. His fighting days are obviously over, but that’s the least of his problems.
TMZ and other media outlets covered the sentencing earlier today, noting Mack’s tearful testimony to the court that she still feared War Machine would attempt to kill her upon his release from prison.
The charges stem from a 2014 assault of Mack, the fighter’s former girlfriend, and a friend of the former porn star, Corey Thomas. Upon arriving at Mack’s home and finding the pair in bed, the fighter assaulted Thomas, who fled, and brutally beat and sexually assaulted Mack, who eventually escaped and found refuge with neighbors.
War Machine’s final MMA appearance wound up being a submission loss to Ron Keslar in Bellator, who released the fighter after the assault of Mack. 14-5 as a pro, he went 2-1 in Bellator, and 1-1 in the UFC, as well as appearing on The Ultimate Fighter Season 6.
