Johnson agrees to counseling and donation after gym incident

MMA Fighting reports that Anthony Johnson has agreed to seek counseling and make a donation to a women’s charity after an incident with a woman at his gym.  The UFC hired an outside law firm to investigate the incident after Johnson posted a rant on social media about the incident.

The UFC released a statement on Monday announcing Johnson’s agreed moves after the incident and investigation:

Following a thorough investigation by a third-party law firm, UFC® is extremely disappointed with Anthony Johnson’s recent actions, as the organization does not tolerate behavior of this nature from any athletes under contract with the UFC. Johnson personally apologized to the woman he verbally offended at a Florida gym last week and for the insensitive comments he made on social media afterwards. The woman accepted Johnson’s apology and indicated a desire to put this unfortunate matter behind them. In order to ensure these situations do not happen in the future, Johnson has agreed to participate in counseling and UFC will support him through this process. Johnson has also agreed to make a donation to a Florida-based women’s charity.

Johnson will remain on the UFC 191 card to face Jimi Manuwa.

The investigation was likely a result of Johnson’s prior history as it relates to women.  A restraining ordered was issued against him by the mother of his children.  However, that was subsequently dismissed.

Payout Perspective:

A good result from the incident or putting a band-aid on a huge gash?  What would have been an appropriate measure might have been to have Johnson pay for anger management counseling (because it appears that what he needs), make a donation to a women’s charity and pay for the woman’s gym fees for an entire year.  Not to be cynical, but I would think that the latter penalty (paying for the gym fees) would have been the most immediate and appropriate result out of this whole debacle.  It was clear that the UFC needed to resolve this matter prior to fight week as it would have been hanging over the promotion of a card that looks very soft on paper.

What I find interesting in the UFC statement is that there is no mention that the law firm investigating the incident or the UFC reviewed the UFC Code of Conduct for athletes and made a determination as to whether there was a violation.  One might suggest that Johnson agreed to the counseling and donation in lieu of an actual determination of a violation.  In that case, I would think it should still be mentioned.  If no mention, it will not be in the mind of the fighters and/or their representatives.  Moreover, it would not seem that there would be any repercussions from a violation of the code.