UFC Veteran Phil Baroni Arrested For Allegedly Murdering Girlfriend In Mexico

KEY POINTS

Phil Baroni has been arrested and charged with killing his girlfriend in Mexico
The retired MMA fighter competed in organizations such as the UFC and ONE Championship
Baroni is held in custody while being under investigation for homicide

Retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Phil Baroni has reportedly been arrested in Mexico for allegedly murdering his girlfriend.

According to a report from Tribuna De La Bahia, the 46-year-old had killed his girlfriend Paola after the two got into an argument at a hotel in the town of San Pancho.

Baroni, a native of New York City, reportedly gave his account of what had transpired, narrating that Paola had admitted to having sexual relations with another man, which sparked his anger.

Per Baroni's statement, he then became physical with Paola and threw her into the shower, which led to the woman hitting herself on the forehead and then receiving another blow to the head after falling to the floor.

Baroni claimed that he laid Paola on the bed and covered her with a sheet. He would later discover her to be unresponsive.

Baroni was charged with homicide and is in the custody of the Municipal Administrative Court of Valle de Banderas in Nayarit.

An investigation is currently underway to determine the exact cause of death and Baroni's involvement.

A true journeyman in the world of MMA, Baroni was an active competitor for nearly two decades, from 2000 to 2019.

Baroni made a name for himself competing in the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), having shared the Octagon with the likes of Matt Lindland, Dave Menne, Amar Suloev and the late Evan Tanner.

He would later compete in Japan under the the now-defunct PRIDE banner before bouncing around from promotion to promotion to ply his trade in companies like Strikeforce, EliteXC and Icon Sport before returning to the UFC in 2009.

In 2011, Baroni competed on the inaugural ONE Championship card in Singapore, losing to fellow UFC veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

He would compete in ONE Championship two more times.

Baroni also had stints in DREAM, Bellator and King of the Cage.

Baroni's final MMA bout took place in Shanghai, China, fighting in Rebel Fighting Championship in 2019, where he lost to Sai Wang by submission for the organization's middleweight championship.

He retired with a professional MMA record of 16 wins and 19 losses.

Outside of MMA, Baroni also had a one-off appearance under bare-knuckle boxing rules, losing to fellow UFC veteran Chris Leben by technical knockout.