And this isn't even the porn party-stuff.
SAN DIEGO COURTS — from www.signonsandiego.com - A former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter accused of getting into altercations at two San Diego bars earlier this year pleaded guilty Thursday to two felonies and admitted he violated probation on a previous case.
Jon Paul Koppenhaver, 28, who legally changed his name to War Machine, was ordered to serve a year in jail because of the probation violation. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, stemming from incidents at a Point Loma bar in February and a Pacific Beach bar in March.
Because War Machine has a professional fight scheduled for July 9, San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen gave the mixed-martial artist a July 16 surrender date, when he is expected to be booked into county jail and begin his sentence.
If he doesn’t show up, War Machine could be sentenced to up to five years in prison on the recent assault case.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon said War Machine is required to serve the entire year in jail, as a condition of the plea agreement. The prosecutor said he agreed not to ask for additional time in custody at a hearing scheduled for Aug. 12 if War Machine complies with the order.
Runyon said War Machine violated probation on a 2007 felony assault case, which was later reduced to a misdemeanor.
According to testimony at a preliminary hearing, War Machine was with a friend at Last Day Cocktails on Rosecrans Street near Poe Street Feb. 28. He became angry with a female bartender who questioned the validity of his identification card when she saw the name “War Machine” printed on it.
He made a swiping motion across the top of the bar, knocking glasses and bottles in the bartender’s direction. She suffered cuts to her right arm and hand, according to the testimony.
A month later, War Machine got into a brawl at Thrusters Lounge on Mission Boulevard near Emerald Street and punched a security guard in the face. The fight was captured on several security cameras inside and outside the bar.
Defense attorney Cole Casey said outside the courtroom Thursday that one of his client’s acquaintances started the Pacific Beach fight, but War Machine “didn’t stop it” and the situation escalated quickly. He said War Machine is a recognized name in the mixed-martial arts world, which can draw negative attention in certain settings.
“There’s a target on your back because people want a piece of you,” Casey said. “Jon speaks his mind so he’s controversial. He tends to ruffle some feathers.”
War Machine appeared on the sixth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” a reality show produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
