Former UFC fighter arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting and battering pregnant girlfriend

Former UFC fighter Richard Crunkilton Jr. has been arrested on alleged assault charges. The local police department in Edgewater, Florida confirmed on June 13 that they had detained the retired athlete earlier that morning after responding to a call from his girlfriend.

As first reported by the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Crunkilton, 44, was charged with aggravated battery and assault of a pregnant person after police arrested him at his residence. Crunkilton allegedly grabbed ahold of his girlfriend — who had been packing up her belongings to move out of his house — and slammed her onto his bed before sexually assaulting her.

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The official police report stated that Crunkilton's unnamed ex-girlfriend had bruising on her arms and was sent to a local medical center for a rape examination. The case is currently under investigation.

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Crunkilton was reportedly released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on the same day that he was arrested on a $5,000 bail.

Who is former UFC fighter Richard Crunkilton Jr.?

Eleven years before he would be arrested on alleged assault and battery charges, Richard Crunkilton Jr. competed in MMA for the final time. He would lose to Akhmed Aliev by knockout to drop his record to 19-4 and evidently decided to make a career change.

For the bulk of his relevant career, 'Cleat' fought in the WEC, accumulating an 8-2 record with the promotion across two stints. He would fight once in the UFC, losing to eventual title challenger Hermes Franca by decision at UFC 42.

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Crunkilton's career peaked in 2007 when he challenged Rob McCullough for the WEC lightweight championship at WEC 30. He would lose the fight by first-round TKO in just over one minute.

It is not widely known what Crunkilton has been doing in his life since unofficially retiring from MMA at 33 years old in 2013. However, the recent police report confirmed that he has been living in Edgewater, Florida, as of June 13.

About the author

Jaren covers MMA and boxing for Sportskeeda. He has a total experience of over a year and also writes for FanSided MMA and BetSided.

Jaren is a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media with high distinction from Butler University in 2023 and chose a field that interests him the most to begin his professional journey. He has over four years of experience practicing boxing and kickboxing and is also a two-stripe Brazilian jiu-jitsu white belt.

His all-time top-five list of MMA fighters includes Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, and Amanda Nunes.

Jaren's first memory of becoming a fan of the sport dates back to the UFC 195 event in January 2016, which was headlined by the Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit title fight. While compiling pieces, he focuses on quality and fact-checking by going through multiple credible sources, such as UFC, Sherdog, and ESPN.

His other interests include training in jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, and watching basketball and American football.

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Edited by Rachel Syiemlieh