In March 2017, Koppenhaver was convicted on 29 felony counts of rape, kidnapping, domestic battery, and other charges after sexually assaulting and beating his ex-girlfriend, pornographic film actress Christy Mack, and her then-boyfriend Corey Thomas in 2014. In June 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 36 years.[1]
Early life
Koppenhaver was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Simi Valley. His German-American father was an officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. His Mexican-American mother worked as a nurse and later became a work-at-home mother.[7] Due to his mother's drug addiction, Koppenhaver would often take care of his younger brother and sister.[7] When he was 13, Koppenhaver suffered a personal trauma when he unsuccessfully performed CPR on his father after he suffered a heart attack.[8]
In August 2000, Koppenhaver attended The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, for two years but was expelled for "poor behavior".[9] While attending, he majored in biology.[9] In an interview, Koppenhaver claimed that he had been earning high marks at The Citadel.[7]
Mixed martial arts career
The Ultimate Fighter Season Six
Koppenhaver was a fighter on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra, fighting on Team Serra. He was not part of the original 16 fighters.[10] Instead, Koppenhaver was brought in as a replacement when Roman Mitichyan broke his elbow during evaluations and was sent home.[11] Koppenhaver lost by unanimous decision to Tom Speer.[12] After a dispute with TNA Wrestling over the use of his nickname, he legally changed his name from "Jon Koppenhaver" to "War Machine" in 2008.[13]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In War Machine's official UFC debut, he defeated Jared Rollins in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs Team Serra Finale via KO at 2:01 of the third round. War Machine and Rollins both received $25,000 due to winning fight of the night honors and War Machine winning knockout of the night. His last UFC fight was at UFC 84 against Yoshiyuki Yoshida which he lost via submission in the first round.[14]
He was released from the UFC after rejecting a fight offered by UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, and after comments made about the death of fellow UFC fighter Evan Tanner. War Machine posted on his Myspace that he believed that Tanner had gone to the isolated southern California desert to kill himself after he realized his career might have been over and basically had made no money during it. Medical examiners eventually ruled that Tanner's death was not a suicide, but War Machine stood by his statements.[15]
On June 20, 2009, War Machine was set to fight Roger Bowling.[18] They were then set to fight at XFC 9 in Tampa, Florida on September 5, where it was to be the main event and would broadcast live over HDNet's website.[19]
On September 5, 2009, War Machine stepped into the cage and faced off against Mikey Gomez. The ref stopped the fight, giving a somewhat controversial win to War Machine by TKO (punches), at 13 seconds in the third round.[20] War Machine was scheduled to fight October 3, 2009 against Jacob McClintock, but cancelled the fight so he could fight on October 8, 2009, against David Mitchell.
On April 17, 2010, he was set to face Tex Johnson in the main event of Wild Bill's Fight Night.[21] On April 16, TMZ.com reported that War Machine left a comment on his Twitter, stating he would not be turning up to the event for the fight.[22]
Return to Bellator Fighting Championships
On December 7, 2011, it was announced that War Machine was re-signed to an exclusive deal with Bellator Fighting Championships and would be competing in its Season 6 Welterweight Tournament.[23] War Machine was expected to fight Karl Amoussou in the opening round of the welterweight tournament at Bellator 63. War Machine was sentenced to a year in prison for the prior assault in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 2009 and was forced out of the bout and the tournament.[24]
War Machine was set to make his Bellator debut on January 17, 2013, against Paul Daley when he tore his ACL and broke his fibula which forced him out of the fight.[25] War Machine faced Blas Avena at Bellator 96 on June 19, 2013.[26] He won via TKO due to punches in round one. War Machine then took part in Bellator MMA's Season Nine Welterweight Tournament at Bellator 100 against Vaughn Anderson in the Quarterfinals.[27] He won via technical submission due to a rear naked choke in the second round. War Machine then faced Ron Keslar on October 18, 2013, at Bellator 104 in the semifinals of the Season Nine Welterweight Tournament. He lost via technical submission due to a rear naked choke in the first round. On August 8, 2014, Bellator MMA announced the release of War Machine after he assaulted and raped his former girlfriend, pornographic film actress Christy Mack.[28]
On September 2, 2007, Koppenhaver was found guilty of striking a Las Vegas man in the face and choking him unconscious during a parking lot scuffle.[30] In February 2008, he was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 days of community service, avoiding the possible felony charge and accompanying prison time.[30] On February 22, 2008, Koppenhaver pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery, and was fined and sentenced to probation.[31]
In August 2010, Koppenhaver was sentenced to one year in the county jail for a felony assault conviction stemming from a fight at a Point Loma bar earlier in the year, as well as an additional fight at a bar in Pacific Beach, San Diego.[32][33] He was imprisoned in San Diego's George Bailey County Detention Facility, mostly in solitary confinement. After going to jail, War Machine maintained his Twitter account as well as a blog documenting his time in jail.[34] On February 1, 2012, it was announced via Koppenhaver's Twitter that he would be serving another year of jail time due to preceding events. He was released on October 29, 2012, after serving two years and two months. He was released out of solitary confinement.[35][36]
Assault of Christy Mack and Corey Thomas
Sometime in April 2013, Koppenhaver began dating adult film actress Christy Mack.[37][38] Mack, nearly 10 years Koppenhaver's junior, was a leading figure in the adult film industry at the time. She described their relationship as passionate, but also said Koppenhaver was physically and mentally abusive and controlling. On August 8, 2014, Koppenhaver brutally assaulted Mack and her then-boyfriend Corey Thomas in Mack's home in Las Vegas. He targeted Thomas first and attacked him for 10 minutes. Koppenhaver then put Thomas in a chokehold, only to be let go after he was made to swear not to go to the authorities. After Thomas escaped, Koppenhaver then set upon Mack, whom he assaulted for two full hours.[39] Koppenhaver raped Mack, cut her with a knife and severely beat her. Mack only managed to escape via a balcony once Koppenhaver's back was turned, after which she went to the house of a neighbor, who promptly called 911. Mack was hospitalized, where it was found that she suffered 18 broken facial bones, a broken nose, 12 missing teeth, a fractured rib and critically ruptured liver.[40]
On August 15, Koppenhaver, who had managed to elude the authorities while on the run for a week, was apprehended after posting self-pitying tweets, which enabled authorities to trace the IP location of his cell phone. Koppenhaver was arrested in Simi Valley, California, by U.S. Marshals and Simi Valley police after resisting arrest, and was then extradited to Nevada where he was charged with 36 felony counts, including multiple attempted murder, kidnapping, rape and sexual assault charges.[41] According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Koppenhaver was found unresponsive in his cell by a corrections officer.[42][43] The cell officer found Koppenhaver struggling to breathe, with a torn piece of linen around his neck that was tied to the leg of his bunk bed. After the officer cut the linen, Koppenhaver's vitals stabilized within 15 minutes, and he was moved to a medical ward, where he was placed on suicide watch. In a suicide note found in his cell, he quoted philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche twice to explain his actions.[44][better source needed] The incident occurred on the same day he was supposed to appear in court to discuss a plea deal.[45][46]
His trial, originally scheduled for September 2015, was postponed twice before beginning in February 2017.[47][48][49] On March 20, 2017, he was convicted on 29 of 36 felony counts, including kidnapping and sexual assault with a weapon, for which he faced life in prison. The jury deadlocked on two counts of attempted murder.[50] Koppenhaver was represented by Jay Leiderman and Brandon Sua.[51] On June 5, 2017, Koppenhaver was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of life in prison with a possibility of parole after 36 years.[52]
