Junie Browning Arrested for Assault, Fired From the UFC After Hospital Freak-Out
(Junie Browning: Ready for the orgy.)
Anybody who watched the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter could tell you that Junie Allen Browning is as crazy as a peach-orchard boar. But after moving to Las Vegas to train full-time, it seemed like “The Lunatic” was slowly going sane. Well, not so much. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal (via CageWriter), Browning was rushed to St. Rose Dominican Hospital on Tuesday night after taking 16 Klonopin pills in an apparent suicide attempt. It was just the beginning of Junie’s troubles:
After being taken to a room at the hospital, the Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter tried to leave and became angry, pushing a female nurse, punching a male nurse and kicking another male nurse, the report states.
“Do you know who I am? I will kill you and rape your family,” police said he yelled to nurses.
Browning faces three counts of battery on a health care provider, according to his arrest report. He was booked at the Henderson Detention Center, where he was released [yesterday].
As soon as the news got back to Dana White, Browning’s UFC contract was shredded. Said White to Yahoo! Sports:
“Obviously, I’m very disappointed. 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…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.”
Browning’s trainer Shawn Tompkins, who was cool enough to drive Junie to the hospital, filled in a few more details on Sherdog:
[Tompkins] found the fighter in his apartment conscious but incoherent Tuesday night after Browning’s ex-girlfriend had called the coach and asked him to check on the fighter…Browning told him he’d taken 16-20 pills of the drug prescribed by his psychiatrist and was attempting to overdose. Tompkins added that Browning suffers from bipolar disorder and regular bouts of depression stemming from a dysfunctional upbringing. Though actively training at the gym, Tompkins said Browning had exhibited recent bouts of duress.
Tompkins drove Browning to the hospital and observed the fighter’s behavior alter from “sleepy” to “frantic and agitated” as they sat in the waiting and triage areas. Tompkins escorted Browning into the examination room and said Browning became upset when he was told that he’d have to ingest a charcoal pill and stay overnight in the facility.
Tompkins said he exited and saw four or five security guards rush into the room a few seconds later. Tompkins did not see Browning’s alleged verbal and physical assaults against the medical staff. “All I can say is that it wasn’t Junie Browning who made that statement,” said Tompkins. “It was the drugs.”
Tompkins said Browning…would be staying with the trainer and his wife for the next few days. Tompkins said he would continue to work with the fighter, but he was unsure how Browning’s arrest might affect his standing with the Xtreme Couture team. “He truly is a great kid and a great person,” said Tompkins. “I have no regrets in taking him under my wing. Rather than attack him, I hope people will show some compassion.”
Tompkins seems like a truly kindhearted person, but maybe Junie should spend the next few days under the care of mental health professionals, not within glass-throwing distance of your wife. And compassion? On this Internet? Check out the edit some joker made to his wikipedia page last night…
