UFC, Bellator veteran Cody Pfister arrested on assault of family member charge

UFC and Bellator veteran Cody Pfister, who now promotes his own events, was arrested over the weekend on an assault charge, MMA Fighting confirmed after an initial report from the Amarillo Globe-News.

Pfister was arrested Saturday on a charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member, per Potter County (Texas) public records. The arrest occurred on the same day as his debut event as a promoter for Fist Fight League in Amarillo, Texas. Pfister made the $5,000 bond and was released later that day.

The incident leading to the charge and arrest occurred May 6, per Amarillo Police Department public information officer Sgt. Brent Barbee.

According to the victim’s account from the police report, Pfister and she were arguing at a restaurant and when they returned home she got into the house and locked him out. Pfister forced open the door, pinned her against a wall and shook her, the victim told police. The fighter then left the scene.

The police report stated that the victim had no visible injury, but did complain of pain. The case was forwarded to the Potter County District Attorney’s office and a warrant for Pfister’s arrest was issued June 27, per court records.

In a video posted to his Facebook on Tuesday, Pfister apologized to those involved with Fist Fight League, because they were not the focal point of the news coming out of the weekend. Pfister never directly mentioned his arrest, nor the incident in question.

“Right now I’m going through a little bit of BS. I can’t get into that stuff too much,” he said. “But I just want everybody to know, I’m OK. I love you guys. No matter what, at the end of the day, we all know what kind of person that I am. I just hope that comes to light.”

Pfister thanked his supporters and said he was very excited for the future of Fist Fight League.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Pfister said. “If anything that was said about me, I hope you boys can believe me. I hope you girls believe me. I’m not a bad guy. I have a lot of people that can vouch for that.

“At the end of the day, the truth will come out. They have nothing on me.”

Pfister (13-6) last fought for Bellator on March 3, a first-round submission win over Jonathan Gary. He is not currently under contract with the promotion, Bellator officials told MMA Fighting. Pfister, 27, was let go from the UFC after two straight losses, to Scott Holtzman in July 2016 and Northcutt in December 2015.