UFC hires law firm to investigate Johnson incident

The UFC has released a statement on the alleged incident between Anthony Johnson and a female gym patron as a result of a social media rant by Johnson.  The organization has retained a law firm to launch an investigation into the matter.

Via UFC.com

“UFC is aware of the situation involving Anthony Johnson. We take these matters seriously and have commenced a formal investigation by a third-party law firm. We will act accordingly once we gather more information.”

Johnson posted, then deleted (and later apologized) a Facebook rant regarding a woman that was in his way at the gym.  In his post, he stated that he threw her yoga mat.  Johnson confirmed an incident at the gym when responding to someone on twitter.

Johnson’s past is the likely reason that there is a third-party investigating this recent incident.  In late 2014, Johnson was suspended by the UFC after domestic violence allegations from the mother of his children.  However, he was reinstated after a civil temporary protection order was voluntarily dismissed.

It appears that the alleged confrontation and not the social media rant is the focus of the investigation.

Johnson is scheduled to fight at UFC 191 on September 5th against Jimi Manuwa.

Payout Perspective:

The ills of social media rear its head again.  For all involved, it’s probably fortuitous that this happened as it sheds light on a potential problem that could have escalated into something more.  The UFC did the right thing in investigating this incident as it is protecting its contracted fighter from possible liability.  There are two sides to every story and it’s interesting that we haven’t heard Johnson’s side especially since he wrote about it on social media.  With Johnson’s fight coming up soon, we will see if the UFC takes any action against Johnson if it is determined that there was any wrongdoing.