In July, the UFC responded to domestic abuse allegations against heavyweight Travis Browne by announcing an internal investigation. At the time, Browne was also pulled from UFC International Fight Week events in Las Vegas.
On Wednesday night, UFC Tonight reported that the UFC still has Browne sidelined pending the outcome of the investigation. Browne most recently fought in May, losing to Andrei Arlovski.
In their initial July statement, the UFC claimed that they "will not tolerate domestic violence" and that an investigation of the allegations against Browne would be investigated by an independent party. Investigating the allegations against Browne is certainly a fraught process as they are not being made in a court of law by his ex-fiancee, Jenna Renee Webb, but instead were issued through social media with photos.
Webb has claimed on social media sites that she was physically abused by Browne for a long time, and that is the reason for their break up. However, she also said she does not plan to press criminal charges against the fighter and father. Browne's manager has insisted on his client's innocence.
With no actual, open and transparent process like a trial, it will be difficult to uncover anything more than versions of what Webb has said and what Browne may say.
At times, with different domestic violence charges and convictions levied at its fighters, the UFC has taken various routes from including no public, official action, to shelving a fighter while they waited for legal processes to play out before deciding what action they would take.
Moving with disciplinary action against an athlete without a formal legal process to flesh out details and to determine truth can be a complicated matter. Browne did not respond when reached out to by UFC Tonight for comment.
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