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« | Home | »

UFC fires Junie Browning

By Zach Arnold | October 8, 2009

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He overdosed on Tuesday in Las Vegas on anti-anxiety medication. Browning is accused of battery of three hospital employees.

Interestingly, Kevin Iole says that Dana White terminated Browning’s contract after the incident. So why didn’t he do the same to Josh Neer or Quinton Jackson?

Asked if the UFC would try to coordinate care for Browning, White said no.

“He’s an adult,” White said. “He’ll figure it out.”

Would Browning have been helped out more by UFC if he was a big draw on PPV?

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 28 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

28 Responses to “UFC fires Junie Browning”

  1. Alan Conceicao says:

    Neer’s less of a draw than Junie was. He’s more talented though.

    The UFC released him and that’s the right move. If Browning was headlining PPVs, would he send him to rehab and psychiatric evals? Maybe. Who knows, he might say he will and not do it. I don’t really care abot the theoretical though. What is done is done, and I see no reason to complain or question the logic.

  2. Fluyid says:

    Yeah, that’s that.

    I don’t know why it had to be done so quickly. The guy isn’t slated to fight anytime soon, is he?

    Oh well. Bleh.

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    Good idea to cut him. He was good for TUF…. Bad for the UFC. Not much talent, a headcase, and now legal problems.

    If you aren’t a star in the UFC, you will certainly get fired if you start to become too much of a problem.

    And the UFC is no different then most other major sports. The stars always get the benefit of the doubt and multiple chances. That isn’t really a UFC issue.

  4. Mark says:

    The difference between Neer and Junie is that was Neer’s first sign of trouble and Junie’s only known for being crazy. Dana probably hoped he was just exaggerating the craziness for TV, but since this is legit insanity with no cameras around it’s nothing but a liability.

    But of course if Junie was a draw he’s keep him. Brock Lesnar could probably F5 newborn babies at the hospital and keep his job.

  5. Ultimo Santa says:

    Yes. He would have gotten more support if he meant more to the UFC in terms of $$$.

    But this was also a ‘last straw’ sort of deal…he looked AWFUL in his last outing, and he was already on thin ice with hardcore fans for even being on TV.

    And yes, Dana cares what the hardcores think.

    Dumb ass jerks like Ortiz, Rampage and others get several chances for being a pain to deal with because they are not only proven main-eventers, they can back it up in the octagon.

    Browning has proven zilch.

    “But of course if Junie was a draw he’s keep him. Brock Lesnar could probably F5 newborn babies at the hospital and keep his job.”

    LOL Awesome! This is my new Email signature.

  6. The Gaijin says:

    @Mark

    Wasn’t that Neer’s 2nd DUI or am I imagining that?

  7. Ken says:

    Browning a dummy. You think the guy would learn. Goes to show you that given celebrity to an immature kid is not always the best idea. Just a waste to see a kid with some potential throw it away!

  8. sammy says:

    Did you read the article???

    He assaulted three nurses and said “Do you know who I am? I will kill and rape your family.”

    Last time I checked Neer and Jackson didnt do or say anything nearly as bad. Sorry but DUI is not the same as assault or death and rape threats.

  9. Zack says:

    “Last time I checked Neer and Jackson didnt do or say anything nearly as bad. Sorry but DUI is not the same as assault or death and rape threats.”

    A delusional guy spouting off at a hospital vs a guy driving his monster truck on the side walk

    LOL

  10. PizzaChef says:

    Good news. Glad to see Zuffa’s attempts to market Browning backfire badly.

    He turned off many TUF fans and many MMA fans, and he finally got sacked for his actions.

    One of the very few positives of 2009.

  11. jr says:

    Junie will enjoy the beans and bologna in prison

  12. Chuck says:

    “A delusional guy spouting off at a hospital vs a guy driving his monster truck on the side walk

    LOL”

    What Jackson did was extremely shitty, but he didn’t assault anyone or threaten anyone. Browning assaulted three nurses (pushed a female nurse, which isn’t TOO bad, punched a male nurse, and kicked another male nurse) and threatened to rape and kill their families. Jackson wasn’t NEARLY as bad. As I said, what Jackson did was extremely shitty and not defendable, but what Browning did definitely took the cake.

  13. Vic Mackey says:

    “he didn’t assault anyone or threaten anyone”?

    LOL. He hit a car with a pregnant woman in it (who shortly after miscarried, I believe a civil suit is pending). Reports also said that pedestrians were diving out of the way of Jackson’s side walk recklessness. That sounds fairly “threatening” to me.

  14. Ivan Trembow says:

    Junie Browning’s behavior has been rewarded by the UFC every step of the way, and it’s sad that it took a suicide attempt for them to finally release him.

    The UFC did not release Quinton Jackson after he endangered numerous pedestrian’s lives in a Monster Truck in July 2008; nor did the UFC release Jon Koppenhaver when he was convicted of assault for punching and choking a man unconscious (Koppenhaver was only released after his comments about the late Evan Tanner); nor has the UFC released repeat criminal Josh Neer (who should be serving a prison sentence right now instead of fighting on the main card of a PPV event in two weeks).

    The fact is, committing a serious crime doesn’t usually cause a fighter to be released by the UFC, so it’s much more likely that the attempted suicide aspect of Browning’s incident is the primary factor behind the UFC’s decision to release Browning from his contract.

    I wrote about the Junie Browning situation on my blog at the following URL: http://www.ivansblog.com/2009/10/more-bad-than-good-at-dream-11-in-japan.html

    On a related note, multi-time drunk driving offender Josh Neer, who led police on a 100-mile-per-hour chase while he was drunk, will serve zero actual prison time. Great job, justice system!

    http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091002/NEWS01/910020364&template=printart

  15. Mark says:

    What Jackson did was extremely shitty, but he didn’t assault anyone or threaten anyone.

    I like Rampage as much as the next guy, but come on, he could have killed somebody with a giant vehicle by either running over pedestrians at 45 mph or causing a serious accident, which is far worse than kicking a guy and threatening people. Unless Junie is the deadliest striker in history, he wasn’t risking killing a guy by kicking him. And to find their families to rape them he’s going to have to spend significant time trying to find their addresses. Rampage’s rampage was far more immediate and therefore worse.

  16. sammy says:

    Actually…NOT.

    Driving drunk (or whatever) and “almost” hitting someone is not assault.

    The prosecutor determined that he was not at fault for the miscarriage and he was not criminally charged for that.

    Just because it would take a “significant amount of time” for Junie to find someone’s address does not make a difference. Assault and death threats are more serious crimes than driving without eating (essentially Rampage’s crime).

    You people can whine all you want about injustice, but the fact of the matter is, legally speaking Junie’s crimes were worse than Rampage’s. Period.

    I’m not saying whether these guys deserved to keep their contracts or not, but intentionally assaulting three people and threatening to kill and rape numerous more is a worse crime. Both in my eyes and the eyes of the law in every state in this country.

    As for Neer, he’s a piece of shit. I agree. I think DUI is a major crime, as is Rampage’s crime, but for gods sake, Junie assaulted and threatened people on national TV, and has consistently shown himself to be completely out of control.

    The point is this is the last straw for Junie. He should never have been allowed to stay in the TUF house after throwing a glass at someone. So the UFC is finally doing the right thing.

  17. Mark says:

    I’m not defending Junie, not even close. Honestly he should have been fired immediately after he jumped the fence on TUF. And assault and battery with violent threats is incredibly serious. If it sounded like I was making light of it that was not my intention and I hope he gets the book thrown at him.

    But there was more immediate danger to the reckless driving of Jackson and Neer is all I’m saying. If your goal to to make sure the sport doesn’t get overrun with criminal thugs all 3 should have been fired and so should everybody else who gets convicted of a serious crime. On the other hand I strongly believe in second chances so I would also say if the three could prove they cleaned up their lives and got their shit together, I would advocate re-hiring them down the road.

  18. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    There’s no hierarchy of evil. Three out of four of these psychos mentioned are no longer in UFC, let’s keep this streak running.

  19. spacedog says:

    Ivan, nice to see you know the police’s business better than they do. If Neer should be behind bars, why didn’t the PD lock him up? Same goes with rampage and War Machine.

  20. spacedog says:

    And to Sammy..a big + 1.

  21. klown says:

    You know, it’s funny. It’s like the UFC management can do no right in my eyes! I disagree with their handling of Browning both then and now…

    I think Browning should have been turfed long ago and never given all the extra chances. At the time I criticized the UFC for tolerating, or more accurately, rewarding his behavior.

    But in this one instance, I actually feel bad for the guy and I find it pretty harsh for the UFC to be cutting him off while he is at this lowest of points. His was not an act of drunken recklessness. This is clearly someone with a serious mental illness. I hope he receives the care he needs.

    It makes sense to cut someone who is mentally unstable from your roster, I guess I would have liked the UFC to help out with the guy’s health care. (Better yet, fighters wouldn’t be at the mercy of management magnanimity. They would have union power and contractual rights, but that’s another story altogether.)

  22. Ivan Trembow says:

    Spacedog— Did you actually read the article? The police did lock Neer up. He was recently sentenced to seven years in prison, but the judge made it a suspended sentence.

  23. >than driving without eating (essentially >Rampage’s crime).

    Speaking of mentally challenged, are you a Special Olympian?

    Threats coming from a mentally ill person who needs medication for his problems vs a psychotic driving like a maniac and almost running people on the sidewalk AND hitting a car isnt even in the same ballpark.

    And if you believe that driving without eating is a valid reason then you believe all those drugged out Hollyweird agents who claim their clients are hospitalized for ‘exhaustion’.

    Driving without eating is the stupidest defense (of a man who has shown a propensity for mental problems) ever.

    If they can make money from you, they will help.
    If they cant, youre fucked.

    Lets see Rampage hump the ET reporter like he does and youll see that a lot of things arent accepted outside Zuffa.
    You cant attack women reporters and call them cunts and you and you cant make fun of the fags. THrow in the druken masturbators of TUF and Dona White has singlehandedly brought the UFC this year to WWF levels of respect in the mainstream press.

    Junie is not the reason the media thing MMA fighters are a bunch of meatheads, the UFC did it without him.

  24. sammy says:

    So because Junie is “mentally ill” aka had a bad childhood, he deserves a pass on assaulting and threatening rape and murder?

    Ok..you sound really intelligent “Rene”

  25. spacedog says:

    Ivan-Nope, I could give a s**t about Neer, but as it seems that he got what he deserves, a seven year suspended sentence, why should the UFC pile on? It’s not their job to provide civil or criminal punishment. .

    Pro sports Org’s are not about being a secondary justice system.

  26. Ivan Trembow says:

    The point that I made was that Jackson, Neer, and Koppenhaver were not released by the UFC for their actions, while Browning was. All four were charged with serious crimes, but only one of them attempted suicide (Browning), and he was the only one of the four to be released by the UFC.

  27. Razorstorm says:

    Sounds like some internal politics going on here. Guess Dana wanted him gone and this was his oppertunity

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