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War Machine Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder, Could Get Life in Prison

MMA fighter shows up in court, enters not guilty plea for all 32 charges

Sep 4, 2014 06:43 GMT  ·  By
MMA fighter War Machine is facing life in prison on 32 charges stemming from the brutal beating of his ex
   MMA fighter War Machine is facing life in prison on 32 charges stemming from the brutal beating of his ex

MMA fighter War Machine, formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver, showed up in court hours ago to answer charges brought against him in relation to the August 8 incident that put his ex-girlfriend, adult star Christy Mack, in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

War Machine has been charged with 32 counts including attempted murder, sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping, domestic battery by strangulation, burglary, coercion and battery. He pled not guilty to all, ESPN reports.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are looking to get him behind bars for the rest of his life, telling the judge that further evidence that came to their attention proves this was not the first time the martial arts artist displayed criminal behavior.

For the time being, they managed to convince the judge that War Machine was too dangerous to be let loose until his next court hearing, which has been scheduled for October 17, so he was denied bail.

War Machine’s attorney, Brandon Sua, has told the media outside the courthouse that he is yet to see this new evidence prosecutors are talking about, insisting that his client is being “demonized” in the courtroom based on his persona in the ring.

Sua hinted that this would be their defense as far back as mid-August, shortly after the fighter was caught by the police after over a week on the run. He told the press at the time that his client had fled precisely because he knew he would be turned into a scapegoat, when all he did was protect himself, fight for his life.

Mack’s version of the events says the exact opposite happened: War Machine barged into her house and found her and a male friend there. She said they had broken up some weeks back and that he had already moved out, while he claimed they were still together and was actually there because he wanted to propose to her.

He claimed he was attacked by Mack and her lover (the other man there), she said War Machine started beating them without provocation.

The details of the attack are gruesome, and you can read her full statement in the tweet below. As you can see in the other tweets also available below, War Machine claimed innocence within minutes of the attack, taking to Twitter to deny any wrongdoing whilst on the run from the police.

Christy Mack has been discharged from the hospital and is about to undergo extensive surgery to fix the damage done by War Machine to her face. Word online has it that she is willing to testify in court against him, just to make sure that he gets the maximum sentence for his brutal act.