Former UFC star known as War Machine is going to prison for 36 years to life for beating and sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend Christy Mack and attacking her male friend at her Las Vegas home in 2014.
On Monday, the jury convicted War Machine, real name Jonathan Paul Koppenhaver, on 29 felony and misdemeanor charges.
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War Machine gave a statement about his troubled past and referenced late New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, the ex-NFL star who committed suicide in prison in April.
“I should have killed myself by now. There’s no reason right now that I shouldn’t be in the dirt right now laying next to Aaron Hernandez. That’s 100 percent true,” Koppenhaver said in his statement.
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Koppenhaver, who is 35 years old, will be 71 years old when he becomes eligible for parole.
Christy Mack, whose legal name is Christine Mackinday, told District Judge Elissa Cadish on Monday that she still fears for her life in the event that her former fighter boyfriend gets released from prison, according to ESPN.
“I do know when he gets out, he will kill me,” she said.
War Machine did attempt to kill himself in January. However, his lawyer, Jay Leiderman, says that he has turned to religion and plans on being a role model for other inmates behind bars.
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“Not a day goes by that I don’t seriously regret all those things that I did. I was a very, very lost, very empty person,” Koppenhaver said. “And to top it off, something’s not right with my head. Plain and simple. I’ve known that a long time and I’ve hated it. I’ve hated the way that I think. I’ve hated my impulses. Half the time, I don’t know why I do some of the things I do. And some of the times I do things and I don’t even feel like I did them until it’s already done.”
