Luis Pena was cut from the UFC as news surfaced that he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. The former TUF contestant known as the Violent Bob Ross has had personal issues which appear to be conflicting with his MMA career.
Dana White spoke about the Pena dismissal on Tuesday night after the Dana White Contender Series fights. He stated that the UFC had tried to help Pena with his problems.
The UFC released a statement on Tuesday regarding the release:
“UFC is aware of the disturbing allegations concerning the recent arrest of Luis Pena. Mr. Pena has been open about his struggles with mental health and substance abuse issues and the organization has on multiple prior occasions attempted to help him get professional treatment.”
“At this time, UFC believes Mr. Pena needs to deal with the health and legal issues in front of him, and consequently has informed Mr. Pena’s management that his promotional agreement has been terminated.”
The initial report indicated that he struck his girlfriend with a closed fist and when a second woman attempted to intervene, he struck her as well.
This past summer, Pena was arrested for potential felony robbery, battery and criminal mischief after he destroyed his then girlfriend’s cell phone.
It appears that the UFC acted swiftly once it knew the context of Pena’s arrest. Pena’s release showed that the company could act swiftly in cutting a fighter that was accused of domestic violence. You can imply that once the UFC read the police report and determined that it was clear that Pena struck a woman, he had to be released from the UFC. Not only did his actions reflect poor judgment and criminal behavior, the UFC had attempted (according to White) get him help to address his mental issues. Unfortunately for Pena, he will have to seek that help without the company’s assistance which likely meant that they would subsidize whatever treatment Pena would do.
Unfortunately, while mental health is a big topic in sports, combat sports does not do a good enough job to help those with these issues. A part of this probably had to do with the mindset of the sport and the potential for CTE issues.
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