War Machine (born Jonathan Paul Koppenhaver, November 30, 1981) is an American former professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

, former pornographic actor, and incarcerated felon. He currently is serving a life sentence for multiple counts of rape, kidnapping, domestic battery, and other charges. Koppenhaver/Machine had a 14–5 overall record in mixed martial arts fighting in various MMA promotions, including Bellator and the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

, the latter for a short period. He competed in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division. He was a fighter on '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'' as part of Team Serra and also competed for

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

Tachi Palace Fights Tachi Palace Fights (TPF) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which hosted events at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. Matchmaker for TPF was former fighter Richard Goodman. Regarded as a regional promotion, ...

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ire ...

, and the

Xtreme Fighting Championships Xtreme Fighting Championships (XFC) is a premier international mixed martial arts (MMA) organization based in Spring Lake, Michigan, with offices throughout the United States and South America. The XFC showcases both male and female fighters, ad ...

. In 2008, he legally changed his name to War Machine. He also appeared in several pornographic films. In March 2017, he was convicted on 29 felony counts after raping and assaulting his ex-girlfriend Christine Mackinday, as well as assaulting her boyfriend at the time during an incident in 2014. On June 5, 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 36 years. He will be 72 years old when he is eligible for parole in 2053.

Early life

Koppenhaver was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Simi Valley, California. His German-American father was an officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. His Mexican-American mother worked as a nurse and later became a work-at-home mother. Due to his mother's drug addiction, Koppenhaver would often take care of his younger brother and sister. When he was 13, Koppenhaver suffered a horrific trauma when he unsuccessfully performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR]) on his father after he suffered a heart attack. In August 2000, Koppenhaver attended The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina for two years, but was expelled for "poor behavior". While attending, he majored in biology. In an interview, Koppenhaver claimed that he had been earning high marks at The Citadel.

Mixed martial arts career

''The Ultimate Fighter'' Season Six

Koppenhaver was a fighter on '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'', fighting on ''Team Serra''. He was not part of the original 16 fighters. Instead, Koppenhaver was brought in as a replacement when

Roman Mitichyan Roman Mitichyan (born September 4, 1978) is an Armenian-American professional mixed martial artist, actor and stuntman. He briefly appeared on Spike TV's reality show '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'', as a part of Team Serra, ...

broke his elbow during evaluations and was sent home. Koppenhaver lost by unanimous decision to

Tom Speer Thomas Speer (born August 20, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2013, he received national exposure on '' The Ultimate Fighter 6: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'', fighting as a member of Tea ...

. After a dispute with

TNA Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promoti ...

over the use of his nickname, he legally changed his name from "Jon Koppenhaver" to "War Machine" in 2008.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In War Machine's official UFC debut, he defeated Jared Rollins in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs Team Serra Finale via KO at 2:01 of the third round. War Machine and Rollins both received $25,000 due to winning fight of the night honors and War Machine winning knockout of the night. His last UFC fight was at

UFC 84 ''UFC 84: Ill Will'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on May 24, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The card featured the return of Sean Sherk, who was suspended and ...

against

Yoshiyuki Yoshida (born May 10, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist competing in the welterweight division. A student of former Shooto competitor Noboru Asahi, he has competed in Shooto, Cage Force, and the UFC. On December 1, 2007, he became the first Cage ...

which he lost via submission in the first round. He was released from the UFC after rejecting a fight offered by UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, and after comments made about the death of fellow UFC fighter

Evan Tanner Evan Lloyd Tanner (February 11, 1971 – September 5, 2008) was an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He was a former UFC Middleweight Champion and was the first American to win the Pancrase Neo-Blood tournament in Tokyo, ...

. War Machine posted on his Myspace that he believed that Tanner had gone to the isolated southern California desert to kill himself after he realized his career might have been over and basically had made no money during it. Medical examiners eventually proved that Tanner's death was not a suicide, but War Machine stood by his statements.

Bellator Fighting Championships

War Machine was signed and then released by

Bellator Fighting Championships Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Global. ...

. His MySpace blog cited disparaging comments about

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

as the cause for his non-participation in their upcoming tournament.

Independent promotions (2009–2011)

On June 20, 2009, War Machine was set to fight Roger Bowling. They were then set to fight at XFC 9 in Tampa, Florida on September 5, where it was to be the main event and would broadcast live over

HDNet AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat sport ...

's website. On September 5, 2009, War Machine stepped into the cage and faced off against Mikey Gomez. The ref stopped the fight, giving a somewhat controversial win to War Machine by TKO (punches), at 13 seconds in the third round. War Machine was scheduled to fight October 3, 2009 against Jacob McClintock, but cancelled the fight so he could fight on October 8, 2009, against David Mitchell. On April 17, 2010, he was set to face Tex Johnson in the main event of Wild Bill's Fight Night. On April 16, TMZ.com reported that War Machine left a comment on his Twitter, stating he would not be turning up to the event for the fight.

Return to Bellator Fighting Championships

On December 7, 2011, it was announced that War Machine was re-signed to an exclusive deal with

and would be competing in its Season 6 Welterweight Tournament. War Machine was expected to fight

Karl Amoussou Karl Amoussou (born November 21, 1985) is a French-German professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Cage Warriors, where he is the current Welterweight Champion. A professional competitor since ...

in the opening round of the welterweight tournament at

Bellator 63 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

. War Machine was sentenced to a year in prison for the prior assault in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 2009 and was forced out of the bout and the tournament. He was set to make his Bellator debut on January 17, 2013, against

Paul Daley Paul Anthony Daley (born 21 February 1983) is a British former mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional competitor from 2003 to 2022, Daley competed for the UFC, Bellator MMA, Cage Rage, Final Fight Championship, Strikeforce, Elit ...

when he tore his ACL and broke his

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

which forced him out of the fight. War Machine faced

Blas Avena Blas Avena (June 30, 1983 – May 4, 2016) was an American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2016, Avena competed for the WEC and Bellator. Known for his exciting fighting style, none of his 16 career bouts made i ...

Bellator 96 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight cha ...

on June 19, 2013. He won via TKO due to punches in round one. War Machine then took part in Bellator MMA's Season Nine Welterweight Tournament at

Bellator 100 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

against Vaughn Anderson in the Quarterfinals. He won via technical submission due to a rear naked choke in the second round. War Machine then faced

Ron Keslar Ron Keslar (born April 17, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has also formerly competed for Bellator, Strikeforce and King of the Cage. Backgr ...

on October 18, 2013, at

Bellator 104 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

in the semifinals of the Season Nine Welterweight Tournament. He lost via technical submission due to a rear naked choke in the first round. On August 8, 2014, Bellator MMA announced the release of War Machine after he assaulted and raped his former girlfriend Christine Mackinday, known by her stage name

Christy Mack Christine Mackinday, known professionally as Christy Mack, is an American nude model and former pornographic actress. Career Mackinday portrayed DC Comics character Zatanna in the 2012 porn parody ''The Dark Knight XXX''. In April 2013, Mackin ...

Adult film career

On October 31, 2009, War Machine announced that he would pursue a career in

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...

s along with fighting

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

. In his announcement, War Machine revealed that he had signed with LA Direct Models and made his debut scene with

pornographic actress A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dist ...

Riley Steele Riley Steele is an American pornographic actress and escortbr> Early life Steele grew up in Escondido, California. Before starting her adult film career, she worked at Starbucks and at a golf course snack bar. Adult film career In 2005, St ...

. Between 2009 and 2010, War Machine appeared in thirteen adult films. War Machine was featured in the January 2014 issue of ''

Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

'' magazine in a nude pictorial with Christy Mack.

Arrests and convictions

On September 2, 2007, he was found guilty of striking a Las Vegas man in the face and choking him unconscious during a parking lot scuffle. In February 2008, he was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 days of community service, avoiding the possible felony charge and accompanying prison time. On February 22, 2008, Koppenhaver pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery, and was fined and sentenced to probation. In August 2010, Koppenhaver was sentenced to one year in the county jail for a felony assault conviction stemming from a fight at a

Point Loma Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...

bar earlier in the year, as well as an additional fight at a bar in Pacific Beach, San Diego. He was imprisoned in San Diego's George Bailey County Detention Facility, mostly in solitary confinement. After going to jail, War Machine maintained his Twitter account as well as a blog documenting his time in jail. On February 1, 2012, it was announced via Koppenhaver's Twitter that he would be serving another year of jail time due to preceding events. He was released on October 29, 2012 after serving two years and two months. He was released out of solitary confinement.

Christine Mackinday case

Sometime in April 2013, Koppenhaver began dating adult film actress Christine Mackinday, better known by her stage name Christy Mack. Mackinday, nearly 10 years Koppenhaver's junior, was a leading figure in the adult film industry at the time. Their relationship, as described by Mackinday, was passionate, but she also described Koppenhaver as physically and mentally abusive, and controlling. The abuse got to a point where Mack ended their relationship in May 2014. On August 8, 2014, Koppenhaver brutally assaulted Mackinday and her then boyfriend Corey Thomas in Mack's home in Las Vegas. He first went for Thomas and attacked him for 10 minutes. Koppenhaver then put Thomas in a chokehold, only to be let go after he was made to swear not to go to the authorities. After Thomas escaped, Koppenhaver then set himself on Mackinday, whom he assaulted for two full hours. Mackinday was raped, severely beaten, and cut with a knife by Koppenhaver. Mackinday only managed to escape once Koppenhaver's back was turned, and once she managed to escape via the balcony, she went to the house of a neighbor, who promptly called 911. Mackinday was hospitalized, where it was found that she suffered from 18 broken facial bones, a broken nose, 12 missing teeth, a fractured rib and her liver was critically ruptured. On August 15, Koppenhaver, who had managed to elude the authorities while on the run for a week, was apprehended after posting self-pitying tweets the entire time, which enabled authorities to easily trace the IP location of his cell phone, and made it far easier for them to track him. Koppenhaver was arrested in Simi Valley, California, by U.S. Marshals and Simi Valley police, and was then extradited to Nevada where he was charged with 36 felony counts, including multiple attempted murder, kidnapping, rape and sexual assault charges. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Koppenhaver was found unresponsive in his cell on October 14, 2014, at around 9:30 p.m. by a corrections officer conducting routine checks in the cells. The cell officer found Koppenhaver struggling to breathe, with a torn piece of linen around his neck that was tied to the leg of his bunk bed. After the officer cut the linen, Koppenhaver's vitals stabilized within 15 minutes, and he was moved to a medical ward, where he was placed on suicide watch. In a suicide note found in his cell, he quoted philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

twice to explain his actions. The incident occurred on the same day he was supposed to appear in court to discuss a plea deal. His trial, originally scheduled for September 2015, was postponed twice before beginning in February 2017. On March 20, 2017, he was convicted on 29 of 36 felony counts, including kidnapping and sexual assault with a weapon, for which he faced life in prison. The jury deadlocked on two counts of attempted murder. Koppenhaver was represented by

Jay Leiderman Jason Scott "Jay" Leiderman (April 12, 1971 - September 7, 2021) was an American criminal defense lawyer based in Ventura, California. ''The Atlantic'' Magazine called Leiderman the "Hacktivist's Advocate" for his work defending hacker-activists a ...

and Brandon Sua. On June 5, 2017, Koppenhaver was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of life in prison with a possibility of parole after 36 years has been served. His earliest release date is in 2053.

Mixed martial arts record

, Loss , align=center, 14–5 ,

, Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:31 , Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–4 , Vaughn Anderson , Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:01 , Phoenix, Arizona, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:55 , Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–4 ,

Roger Huerta Roger Huerta (born May 20, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the lightweight division. He initially gained exposure by competing in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator Fighting Ch ...

, TKO (punches) , UWF 1: Huerta vs. War Machine , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:09 , Pharr, Texas, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–4 ,

John Alessio John Paul Alessio (born July 5, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional mixed martial artist. A former competitor in Bellator's Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1998, Alessio has also formerly competed for the UFC where he ...

, Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , TPF 5: Stars and Strikes , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:24 , Lemoore, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Zach Light , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

BAMMA 3 This is a listing of event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. BAMMA 1: The Fighting Premiership ''BAMMA 1'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on 27 June 2009 at the Room ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:09 , Birmingham, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 , David Mitchell , Decision (split) , TPF 1: Tachi Palace Fights 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Lemoore, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Mikey Gomez , TKO (punches) , XFC 9: Evolution , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:13 , Tampa, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Erick Montano , Submission (armbar) , Total Combat 33 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:47 , Mexico City, Mexico , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Tim Woods , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UWC 6: Capital Punishment , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:16 , Fairfax, Virginia, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Guillaume DeLorenzi , Submission (rear-naked choke) , XMMA 7: Inferno , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:13 , Montreal, Quebec, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , David Anderson , KO (punches) , Desert Rage 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 , Yuma, Arizona, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 ,

, Technical Submission (anaconda choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Jared Rollins , KO (punches) ,

The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'' was the sixth season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter'', and premiered on September 19, 2007 on Spike TV, after ''UFC Fight N ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:01 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , RJ Gamez , TKO (punches) , Total Combat 16: Annihilation , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:09 , San Diego, California, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , Mike O'Donnell , Submission (armbar) , GFC: Team Gracie vs Team Hammer House , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:02 , Columbus, Ohio, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Andrew Ramirez , TKO (corner stoppage) , Total Combat 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:08 , Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Frank Duffy , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Total Combat 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 , Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Angel Santibanez , TKO (punch) , Total Combat 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 , Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico ,

Championships and accomplishments

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

** Fight of the Night (One time) ** Knockout of the Night (One time)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:War Machine 1981 births Living people 21st-century American criminals American male criminals American male mixed martial artists American male pornographic film actors American mixed martial artists of Mexican descent American people convicted of assault American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of rape American people convicted of sexual assault American people of German descent American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American prisoners and detainees American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American rapists American sportspeople convicted of crimes American sportspeople of Mexican descent Crime in Nevada Criminals from California Criminals from Nevada Mixed martial artists from California Mixed martial artists from Nevada Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People acquitted of attempted murder People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Simi Valley, California Prisoners and detainees of Nevada Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Nevada Sportspeople from Ventura County, California Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Violence against women in the United States Welterweight mixed martial artists