Browning dumped from UFC after arrest
Junie Browning, who made a name for himself as a hard-drinking, hard-charging lightweight on Season 8 of the Spike TV reality series "The Ultimate Fighter," lost his job with the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Wednesday after being arrested in a Las Vegas suburb on Tuesday.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Browning was taken to a Henderson, Nev., hospital Tuesday after ingesting 16 anti-anxiety pills. Browning was arrested by Henderson police at St. Rose Dominican Hospital after assaulting three nurses there.
UFC president Dana White told Yahoo! Sports that he terminated Browning's contract immediately upon learning of the arrest.
According to Henderson police, Browning pushed a female nurse, punched a male nurse and kicked a second male nurse as he was trying to leave.
The newspaper reported that Browning shouted to nurses, "Do you know who I am? I will kill you and rape your family."
He was arrested on three counts of battery upon a health care provider. He was booked Tuesday at the Henderson Detention Center and was released on Wednesday.
White said he had few details and was disappointed by the news. White surprised many when he didn't kick Browning off the show when his out-of-control behavior included excessive drinking and throwing a glass at another fighter.
After Browning's appearance on "The Ultimate Fighter," White counseled Browning, agreed to give him a job in the UFC and encouraged him to avoid trouble.
Browning had been training in Las Vegas at the highly regarded Xtreme Couture Gym, where, by all accounts, he was doing well. He hasn't fought since losing to Cole Miller on a UFC card in Nashville, Tenn., in April.
"Obviously, I'm very disappointed," White said. "I haven't heard anything regarding Junie where he's acted up or been bad in a long time. You could tell on the show he had issues. I saw (fighting) as an opportunity for the kid to turn his life around and make something of himself. Physically, he's very gifted. He is good at everything: Standup, he has great ground, he has an unbelievably good chin.
"He was given an amazing opportunity, but he has some serious issues that are beyond me and what I can do. I'm there for guys and I realize nobody is perfect and guys are going to get into trouble. When that happens, I want to try to help and do something for them. But he needs more help than I can give him. I did what I could for him."
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."
