Josh Neer could pay dearly for attempting to take “justice” into his own hands.
In what appeared to be a more sinister reincarnation of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, the former UFC and Bellator fighter posted a video of himself on Monday, “sparring” with an individual after an online dispute.
According to Neer, per BloodyElbow.com, the individual, who has now been identified as Patrick Martin, was online heckling MMA fighters. After ignoring a total of 10 messages, Neer finally grew tired of the incessant trolling and invited Martin out to his gym to fight.
Warning: Violence in above video may not be suitable for all viewers.
Martin can be seen wearing what appears to be 16-ounce boxing gloves, while Neer is wearing four-ounce MMA gloves. In the video, Neer kneels over Martin, who is turtled on his side, raining down multiple, unanswered punches and elbows.
Two men finally come in to break up the fight, but Neer continues to go after Martin, sneaking in a soccer kick to the face as he’s being pulled back.
Iowa Athletic Commission Executive Director Joe Walsh informed TMZ.com on Tuesday that the commission is currently investigating the incident.
“We are aware of the situation. I have our legal team taking a thorough look at our rules. We’re checking to see if we have anything on the books that covers this,” said Walsh.
The meeting was preplanned, according to Martin, when speaking with MMAFighting.com community member Emmery Myers.
Martin’s side of the story is that the incident didn’t have anything to do with MMA as a whole. He claims Neer started the entire thing by “disrespecting” him after he was gassed during a wrestling drill.
A he said/he said story culminating into a video of a professional fighter beating the living daylights out of an average Joe isn’t a good look for MMA, no matter how you slice it.
Jordy McElroy is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag Sports.
