Former UFC heavyweight Lavar Johnson charged with domestic assault

Lavar Johnson, a heavyweight fighter who had fought for both the UFC and Bellator, is currently in jail in Fresno on a number of charges including domestic assault regarding an alleged attack on his girlfriend in August.

Johnson has been held since that time, but the story went unreported until today when TMZ first broke it.

Johnson, 38, was arrested on 8/25 for an alleged incident on 8/11 where he is accused of slamming his girlfriend against a wall and on the ground, and repeatedly kneeing her in the face and head. He is also accused of punching her 11 times in the face.

The list of charges include corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and dissuading a witness by force.

The police report stated that Johnson then fled the scene.  Police arrived and saw the woman with a swollen forehead and nose, bleeding. She said that when Johnson saw the blood, he backed off.  She needed staples to close one of the cuts.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held on $175,000 bond.  He is facing a maximum 128 months in prison on the charges.

Johnson had a similar arrest in 2007.

Johnson, was a Strikeforce regular from 2009 to 2011, and then moved to UFC after the heavyweight division was switched over and fought four times in the organization, going 2-2.  He was cut after testing positive for testosterone after a loss to Brendan Schaub on February 23, 2013. Since then he was signed to Bellator, where he had a 1-3 record.