He Was the Best Ever, Now He’s In Prison for Life | Phil Baroni

I'm the man. I'm the best ever. Alpha.

I'm the best ever.

>> Phil Bron is not a good guy. Every

fighter has a certain amount of crazy.

Some guys, they're crazy burns them

down. It It burns down everything around

them.

>> People around here don't get it. I'm the

man. The [ __ ]

>> Isn't he in jail right now?

>> Brony's in jail for, you know,

allegedly, you know, a bad one, too.

>> Beating to death. It's brutal, man.

>> He killed a female who was from there

who owned a little grocery store who has

two young kids.

>> Just awful. and CTE comes into play,

then there's a lot of guys that just get

real impulsive. They become addicts.

They [ __ ] up all relationship

>> or only left a boy without a mom and

loved ones suffering.

>> If you enjoy diving into the untold

stories behind MMA's most notorious

fighters, make sure to hit that like

button and subscribe. Now, let's step

into the chaotic world of Phil Baron.

Born on April 16th, 1976 in Masipiqua,

Long Island, New York, Phil Baron grew

up in a stable household, but quickly

earned a reputation for street fights

and toughness.

>> And Phil as a young guy was a tough,

scrappy kid.

>> Ever since I was a little kid, I always

wanted to be the fighting champion,

whether it was boxing or or pro

wrestling or whatever. That was just

what I always wanted to do.

>> He wrestled at Masipiqua High School.

>> Since seventh grade, I wrestled. I

wanted to be the baddest guy on the

planet. I wanted to be the toughest. So,

you know, wrestling was what I was into.

I I loved it.

>> Then became a two-time all-American at

Nassau Community College before being

expelled in his senior year.

>> Freshman sophomore year took fifth and

second in the nation, you know what I

mean? Division one wrestling. But then I

got into the MMA and and I wanted to do

that and I'd be training jiu-jitsu and

[ __ ] Coaches be getting pissed at me,

you know what I mean? I ended up

knocking out my my college wrestle coach

and I was bringing in the box gloves and

I was beating up everyone on the team.

>> So one day he was in there in the

wrestle room and I put on the gloves and

I knocked his ass out.

>> Wow.

>> Brought in the big gloves and had a

transfer. Baron briefly attended Hofster

University then secured a scholarship to

Central Michigan University where he

double majored in biology and

psychology.

>> I used to have a job where I used to

move money collect a little setup and I

jumped and tried to get the money this

and that and I wouldn't give it up got

cut back of the head my way out of it

and ran got stabbed in the shoulder too

but I survived and moved to Michigan

kind of how I transferred at Hofra went

to Michigan to wrestle

>> Phil got nicknamed the badass in New

York. If you don't know who Phil was, he

was raised since he's a kid up the block

from me. His father was involved with me

at about 16 years old. For people that

don't know, he lived with me. Phil got

involved in say criminal activity with

me, the organization, the Gambino

family. So when people call him that and

say he's the badass or what, but he's a

badass in a lot of things. He got

involved in scores with me. He got

involved in robberies with me as a young

man.

>> Baron's father is not dead. He wanted

nothing to do with Phil his whole life.

But once he saw Phil doing good in the

UFC, then all of a sudden he wanted to

be in be in his life. They didn't have a

good relationship all throughout Phil's

life, that's a reason why he uh spent a

lot of time with John A. Outside

wrestling, he competed in bodybuilding

and began striking training, building an

impressive combat base. A 70 amateur

kickboxing record and a 10 to zero

amateur boxing record, all knockouts.

This mix of controversy, raw aggression,

and athletic success set the stage for

his move into professional MMA by 2000.

How much MMA training do you have prior

to your first fight? I was I was a

college wrestler. I was doing some

boxing and kickboxing. I had like 18

fights. All the wrestlers who were

watching UFC and I just happened to be a

guy on the team that used to be a

jiu-jitsu guy. So I I had some training.

I I signed up for a fight and then I

joined the gym. 8 weeks later I was

fighting.

>> Baron made his professional MMA debut on

August 5th, 2000, blasting through John

Hayes with a 35second TKO.

>> So did you took 7 months off after your

first fight from mixed martial arts?

Were you doing tough man at that time?

>> I was doing some tough man, too. Yeah.

>> Phil Bologoney is going to Central

Michigan on a full wrestling

scholarship.

>> Phil does this tough man competition and

this guy Ollie Thorson is this is the

guy across the ring from him. Oie ran

from him the entire bout.

>> I knocked him down and because he was

running around and doing all that [ __ ]

the whole time. He was looking up. I hit

him with a [ __ ] uppercut when he was

on the ground.

>> The rest of a bigger guy.

>> Oh, he's down on his back and he gets

punched. What is that,

>> man? They didn't like that [ __ ]

>> Jackson punch right there.

>> Knee to the head. This is an ultimate

fighting here, dude. Keep the knees

down. Rules in tough man.

>> So, was it a disqualification?

>> Disqualification.

>> And then after they raise Oie's hand,

Phil goes berserk. fighting out of the

yellow.

Oh mighty person

gets the decision and bologoney.

>> He's coming out

boy trying to get away. He don't want

the ball. Murray got right in between

him. Help me.

>> Get Murray out of there.

>> Just weeks later he was in the UFC.

>> It just blows my mind though to think

that you had a fight and then you went

to the UFC. That's really how that went.

>> My first UFC fight was I was 24. I got a

short notice fight and I was brought in

as a boxer. I I was 10 and0 in amateur

boxing and 7-0 and kickboxing. I think

that was pro UFC number 30 replacement

fighter. I was the local guy. They

always used to have a local guy get

their ass kicked

>> at UFC 30 in February 2001. The

24year-old outpointed Curtis Stout to

earn a unanimous decision in his debut.

>> Congratulations on your first victory in

the Arctic. How'd it feel?

>> Felt great. It's about working for it

for a long time. I thank my trainer key

tremble for putting up with me and all

the crap teach me how to fight and then

I got kicked out of UFC for like

wrecking the bathroom or something. I

got in a street fight with somebody.

>> A summer win on the regional circuit

pushed his record to 3-0.

>> On Ken Shamrock's show killed some

really tough dude that Joe Civil was

really impressed with this Russian dude.

So yes, he brought me back and put me

against Malin, the Olympic silver

medalist.

>> Phil was one of the original guys to

have a gimmick. Phil used to come out,

he'd wear a robe like a boxer would wear

and he would dance a little bit on the

way to the ring and he was the New York

badass and he would hire his own girls.

They they'd like dance him to the ring

like a pro wrestler. That might sound

silly for you, but at that time that was

wildly entertaining.

>> In November 2001, Baron suffered his

first loss, dropping a decision to

Olympic wrestler Matt Lynland at UFC 34,

the start of a heated rivalry.

>> I won that [ __ ] fight, dude. Totally

won that fight. They go out, they have

their match, Matt beats him. So, the

next thing you know, Phil comes out to

Team Quest to train with us. He was

actually living at the gym. It had a

shower and somewhere to cook food. And

>> what's the best part of fight life for

you right now,

>> man? Shower. I would have to say shower.

Wake up every day, run six miles, then

shower, you know, eat, then go to the

gym, work out hard, mits, technique,

then shower. So, that's pretty good.

Shower night train like you just saw and

shower. So, pretty much best part of my

day is shower. He rebounded at UFC 37 in

May 2002, stopping Omar Sulov in under

three minutes.

>> Flying knee and grab another and that's

a foul. Cannot knee down opponent.

>> You need time to continue. Here we go.

>> I can't believe Baron came back from

that knee. And look at the

>> right now

the fight.

Baron really fought through and he

reigns victorious.

>> You took some big shots. You took that

knee second, but you came back. You came

right back. I wasn't hurt, bro. I was

fine. I took no big shots. I'm the best

185 lb in the world. Line them up. I'm

going to knock him down.

>> Then came his breakout moment. At UFC

39, Baron demolished former champion

Dave Manet in just 18 seconds with a

furious knockout.

[Applause]

I'm the man. I'm the man. I'm the best.

>> Absolutely.

I'm the best ever.

I'm the man.

>> Saw some hand speed tonight. Talk to me.

>> Relax. Relax. No one wants to hear what

you got to say. I'm the future champion.

Hey, Lynlin. I got a right hand with

your name on it. I'm the man. I want my

[ __ ] belt.

>> A brash, unforgettable celebration that

captured his cocky New York persona and

cemented him as one of the UFC's most

talked about prospects. I turned around

and the fight was over and he jumped up

on the cage and tell him what you said.

Tell him what you told the world.

>> That was the best ever. I just had to

tell the world, you know, what was up.

>> In February 2003, Baron tried to avenge

his loss to Matt Lynland at UFC 41, but

Lynland's wrestling again shut him down,

handing Baron his second defeat. Later

that year at UFC 45, he met Evan Tanner.

>> Something happened between him and Evan

Tanner. They start hitting each other so

hard, and Randy Couture was in the room.

and he had to stop what he was doing and

go over and break these two up. And then

Phil Baron leaves and he turns on the

whole gym. So, next thing you know,

Phil's going to go fight Evan Tanner

>> and that situation where you ended up

striking an official and being suspended

for a number of months. What What was

the the story behind that?

>> Uh the official was horrible. He ended

up getting fired. that that was the

fight for the uh the number one

contender for the title and the ref

stopped the fight and uh I punched him

in the face.

>> After a strong start, referee Larry

Lanless paused the action to check a

cut, giving Tanner time to recover.

>> Phil is literally about to finish Evan

Tanner. Rather than allowing the fight

to continue, Lanless steps in and says,

"Stop. We got to let the doctor look at

>> himself. They're going to stop the

fight. They're going to check the cut

under Evan Tanner's left eye.

>> I mean, I had a knockout. I win that

fight, I'm fighting for the

championship. Makes no sense to [ __ ]

stop the fight when I'm throwing punches

at the guy to check the cut.

>> Yeah, you don't do that.

>> He [ __ ] up.

>> Once the fight resumed, Tanner took over

and the referees stopped it while Baron

was still conscious.

>> You got

>> furious Baron struck the referee. a

serious breach that earned him a 4-month

suspension and damaged his reputation,

casting him as an aggressive hothead in

the eyes of fans.

>> Bilbo was like full on

>> I tried to get up as fast as I could and

he was trying to hold me down. So when

he put his knee in my belly, I was like,

"Get the [ __ ] off me. He was trying to

like pin me down like make it look like

he stopped the fight [ __ ] up." So

that's when I started trying to punch

him in the face.

>> It looks like Phil thought he was

saying, "Are you okay?" And Phil said,

"Yeah." Larry was asking, "Do you want

out? You got suspended for 4 months.

>> They wanted to suspend me for a year,

but I I I hired a lawyer and I I spent

my whole purse. Yeah. For nothing. You

know what I mean? Just a bunch of

[ __ ] man.

>> Dana White goes in there and he just

>> calm the [ __ ] down, Phil. Calm down.

>> What Phil thought he was asking me.

>> [ __ ] relax, Phil.

>> And to Phil's credit, Phil, calm down.

When the suspension ended, Baron got a

rematch with Tanner at UFC 48 in June

2004, but lost a unanimous decision. By

February 2005, he was on a threeight

skid. Facing Pete Cell at UFC 51, Baron

came in under coach Enson Inway, looked

sharp early and scored takedowns, but in

the third round was caught in a

guillotine choke. He briefly refused to

tap, even appearing to go out before

finally submitting, the only tap out

loss of his career. It was his fourth

straight defeat, dropping his UFC record

to 3 to 5, and he was released. Baron

quickly rebounded with a rare armar win

on a smaller Ohio card in March 2005.

This kept his overall record at 6 to5

and opened the door for a move to Japan,

where a new chapter of his career

awaited. After leaving the UFC, Baron

headed to Japan in 2005, joining Mark

Coleman's Hammerhouse camp and competing

in Pride's 183 lb division.

>> If you don't know, Phil Baron was uh a

major part of team Hammerhouse a few

years back, but they were a force in the

Pride days. Him, Mark Holman, Wes Sims,

Kevin Randleman, Foni, they they were a

faction.

>> I broke into the into the Hammer House

when Mark Holman happened to be in Las

Vegas training for a fight. I the first

day he was at a jiu-jitsu school. I

noticed he was waiting for a cab. So the

next day I'm like, man, [ __ ] that. Where

you staying? So I just started giving

him a ride home. I was basically, you

know, Ka's big fan and and I was his

show for for his training camp.

>> Then I asked him for cornering me for my

UFC fight and it didn't go so well. And

then uh he saw I was down and out and he

got me in Pride and I was a member of

the Ham House ever since then.

>> It was Hammer House versus the World. We

were taking on the bad guys, you know,

Vanderly Silver, Shogun, Ninja. the the

shoe box was like, you know, was a bunch

of wild guys from Brazil and and in

Japan they were doing whatever the [ __ ]

they wanted and running around and

kicking people's asses and causing

havoc. It it it was really like the wild

wild west in pride.

>> He made an immediate impact finishing

Iikuhisa Manova with stomps at Bushidito

7, knocking out Rio Chonan in just 140

at Bushidto 8 and starting Yuki Condo in

only 25 seconds the following year.

These brutal KOs quickly made him a

foreign fan favorite. Baron's rivalry

with Monoa continued in the 2005 Pride

Welterweight Grand Prix, where Monoa

edged him out by unanimous decision to

eliminate him from the tournament.

Still, Baron remained a staple in Pride,

and at Pride 32, the promotion's first

US event, he surprised everyone by

submitting Yoske Nishiima with a Kamura.

Later, he admitted he had learned the

move from watching TV just days earlier.

The unlikely submission, along with his

knockouts, helped Baron rebuild his

career and confidence during his Pride

run. With Pride shutting down in 2007

after its sale to the UFC's parent

company, Baron suddenly found himself

without a home promotion.

>> Like after Pride, unfortunately, Strike

Force bought my [ __ ] contract. All

the other guys got to go to the UFC and

I was stuck [ __ ] Strikeforce where I

really didn't want to be. I wanted to be

in the UFC. You know what I mean? I

lived in Las Vegas.

>> I think like you mentored John

Copenhager, right? You know?

>> Yeah. War Machine, Alex, Carolis, all

those guys treated under me in Las

Vegas. You know, I was still friends

with Dana and I was saying, "I got these

kids here and I got War Machine." All

All those guys aren't the Ultimate

Fighter.

>> Rather than fading away, in 2007, Baron

headlined a high-profile grudge match

with MMA pioneer Frank Shamrock at

Strikeforce. The buildup was filled with

trash talk, and Baron embraced the

villain role. On Fight Night, Shamrock's

experience showed he dropped Baron in

round one and finished him in round two

with a rear naked choke. True to his

persona, Baron refused to tap and went

unconscious, losing by technical

submission. The drama continued

afterward when the California Commission

announced Baron had tested positive for

Baldinon and Stenosal. He was fined

$2,500 and suspended for one year, later

reduced to 6 months after appeal. Baron

even attempted to challenge the results

by requesting DNA testing on the urine

sample, but there wasn't enough left to

test. The failed defense cemented the

positive test, marking a serious blow to

his career. Between the Shamrock loss

and the steroid scandal, 2007 became the

turning point where Baron's climb toward

the elite gave way to a sharp decline.

Baron returned in 2008 as a veteran for

hire. Starting with a shot at the icon

sport middleweight title in Hawaii

against Kala Jose. He looked sharp

early, but his gas tank betrayed him

again and Jose overwhelmed him in the

fifth round for a TKO.

>> It was like you were a hot free agent,

right?

>> Yeah. I was making4 to $60,000 bouncing

around. Two months later, Baron made

history fighting Joey Villis Seenor on

the first MMA card broadcast on US

Network television, Elite XC. Dropping

to 170 lbs, Baron was stopped just 71

seconds into the fight, raising new

doubts about his durability.

>> Everybody else was doing supplements and

I was trying to get my wife pregnant for

10 years, so that's why I was fighting

170, but 185 was my weight, you know.

>> Refusing to fade, Baron jumped to the

UK's Cage Rage. After nearly submitting

Scott Jansen with an armbar, he landed a

thunderous right hand that knocked

Jansen out cold. Chaos followed when

Jansen's brother stormed the cage and

headbutted Baron, sparking a brief

melee.

>> Wow.

>> Well, this idiot just nutted Bill Baron.

>> After the bout, uh Johnson's brother

wasn't real happy, you know, the

decision. I mean, obviously won by first

round KO and uh throws a headbutt your

way being red.

>> [ __ ] him up. I don't know why. I didn't

know why I [ __ ] I didn't smash him. Even

in victory, chaos seemed to follow him.

Baron kept busy, picking up two more

wins on smaller shows, including a

decision over Olaf Alonso to close 2008

on a threeight streak. With four wins in

six outings that year, he had steadied

his career and earned another look from

bigger promotions. In June 2009, Baron

stepped back up in competition against

fellow veteran Joe Riggs at Strikeforce.

But after three rounds, Rigs' speed and

technique carried him to a unanimous

decision. The loss snapped Baron's

momentum, but his name value still

mattered. Later that year, the UFC

resigned him, capitalizing on his brash

persona and early 2000's legacy.

>> Going back to the UFC, you kind of had

that second chapter there. But it was

>> that was [ __ ] That was [ __ ]

[ __ ] Joseph could suck my dick.

>> At UFC 106, Baron faced Amir Sadulla.

>> Amir is fighting at 205 lbs. Fights

Chuck Liddell

>> and he comes down a weight class and his

first fight is Phil Baron.

>> I was supposed to ass kick that time.

>> Oh, for sure. Yeah, you were being

brought in to win.

>> Charging forward with his trademark

aggression, but being picked apart over

three rounds by Sidola's kicks and

knees. The unanimous decision loss left

him 0 to1 in his UFC return. Determined

to improve, Baron spent two months at

Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket. Sharpening

his striking and conditioning and moved

back up to middleweight. A scheduled

fight with John Salter in 2010 fell

through due to injury, leaving his final

UFC bout to come at UFC 125 on January

1st, 2011. Against young prospect Brad

Tavvaris, Baron dropped him early with a

left hook, but was stopped later in the

round by a headkick and flurry.

Admitting afterward that he expected to

be cut, Baron was released.

>> I'm pretty disappointed. You know, I'm

pretty pretty upset. 34 years old, you

don't want to go back to the minor

league, but I mean, what am I going to

do? Why are you sure that you're going

to get released?

>> It's just the way to do things, you

know? I mean, it's his business, you

know.

>> Closing his second UFC run with a record

of 3 to7 overall. This marked the end of

his time at the sports elite level and

pushed him toward the journeyman phase

of his career.

>> So, were you officially released from

the UFC?

>> Yep. I spoke to Joe Silva, gave me a

nice pep talk and uh basically gave him

a walk of papers and sent me away. But,

you know, that's the business. Where I'm

going now is back to the the journeyman

circuit.

>> How do they tell you that you're cut?

When when does that conversation take

place?

>> Dana Dana called me in to his office. I

went to his office and he told me,

"Yeah, I should retire." Like, "Yeah,

right, [ __ ] What else we got to

do?"

>> You really told you to retire?

>> Yeah. Begged me to retire. It's the

weirdest [ __ ]

>> No, nobody should [ __ ] uh be to tell

me I can fight or not. It's my life.

It's my ch It's my choice. Who Who has

the right to tell me what I can or

cannot do? After his UFC release, Baron

signed with Titan FC in 2011 and won his

debut before injuries slowed him. He

resurfaced in 1 FC where he scored a

60-second knockout of Rodrigo Rivero,

but otherwise struggled, leaving his

record at 15 to 17. In 2014, Baron

signed with Bellator MMA, debuting

against Kairo Parisan at Bellator 122.

Parishan stopped him by first round TKO,

and at 38 years old, Baron's run in

major promotions was over. Adding insult

to injury, his Bellator stint ended in

controversy outside the cage. That

August, he publicly defended his friend,

War Machine, who had just been arrested

for the violent assault of his

ex-girlfriend.

>> War Machine, the one guy to show up at

his trial that be there for him. And

again, you show me your friends, you

show me who you are, and it was Phil

Baron. Now, Phil Baron is not a good

guy.

>> What you see right there is a picture of

War Machine. And what you see behind him

is Phil Baron in the court showing

support for his boy where War Machine

was facing attempted murder charges with

loyalty before royalty and then # I [ __ ]

you not g's up hoes down. Baron's

comments which seemed to excuse domestic

violence sparked outrage with War

Machine later convicted of rape,

kidnapping, and battery. Bellator

quickly cut ties with Baron. By the end

of 2014, he was not only physically past

his prime, but also increasingly

isolated by his own controversial

behavior. After leaving Bellator in

2014, Baron fought only sporadically,

scoring a 24-second KO in King of the

Cage in 2018 before losing his final

fight in 2019 at Rebel FC, retiring with

a 16 to19 record after nearly 20 years

in the sport. Outside the cage, he

worked as a guest commentator, dabbled

in pro wrestling, even tag teaming with

Stefan Bonner and later appearing at

Josh Barnett's Blood Sport, and briefly

tried bare knuckle boxing, losing to

Chris Leeben in 2018 before pulling out

of a planned 2020 fight with Thiago

Alves. By 2021, he had settled in Nai,

Mexico, living with his girlfriend, and

seemingly slipping into quiet

retirement.

>> So, Phil, how is life down south of the

border down Mexico way?

>> Good. Good. Living the dream, brother.

The man that brought the electricity,

that brought the energy, that brought

the entertainment to the Ultimate

Fighting Championships was my good

friend, the New York badass Phil Baron.

>> Me remembered, I just want to remember

there's a tough fighter. If I'm

remembered, a kid that, you know, got in

there and and and he fought with a lot

of guts. He never found a soft spot,

never quit in a fight. May maybe in the

next couple years I I'll be learning my

speech a lot more than a lot of these

other guys or maybe I'll be walking uh

with a limp and uh maybe I won't

remember my kids' names, but you know

they can say that you know their daddy

never quit. So look at it that way.

>> Who is like in your mind like the

greatest ever? Who's the guy you've seen

and you're like that guy like if I have

to pick that's the guy.

>> Me. I I think I'm the most successful

athlete in MMA in in in outside fighting

sports. I don't think anyone has

competed individual sports like I have.

>> But in early 2023, Baron's name would

return to headlines for the darkest

reason of his life. On January 1st,

2023, the story of Phil Baron took its

darkest turn.

>> Baron's in jail for, you know, allegedly

murder in in uh in Mexico.

>> It was like a bad one, too.

>> Beating to death.

>> Oh, yeah. It's brutal, man. It's just

just awful.

>> Living in San Francisco Net in western

Mexico, Baron was arrested and accused

of murdering his girlfriend. What police

described was grim. After an argument,

Baron allegedly threw her into the

shower with such force that she

sustained catastrophic injuries. Hours

later, she was found bruised and

bloodied on a bed, unresponsive, and

declared dead at the scene.

>> Phil Baron's story was that they were on

New Year's Day. He had smoked some

marijuana and they got into a fight and

or he said that she told him that she

had been sleeping with someone else and

he snapped and he threw her into the

shower where she hit her head and then

she laid there and then he said that he

helped her up. He took her to the bed.

He took her clothes off, put a sheet on

her and then she asked him for a

cigarette and a beer. He went out to go

get her a cigarette and a beer and then

he brought them back and when he came

back she had no vitals. Authorities

classified the case as aggravated

femicide, a charge under Mexican law

reserved for gender-based killings.

Shockingly, it was Baron himself who

reportedly called the police, telling

them that an argument had spiraled out

of control.

>> You're talking about a man's life.

You're talking about a woman that was

killed. Let justice run its course. And

then the first thing that came out to

me, jumped out to me, if you're going to

kill somebody, you either leave that

scene and take off on a hop because you

panic or you you don't panic and you

clean up that scene. Phil Baron did none

of that. Phil Baron left the room, went

to a store to buy beer. He comes back to

the room and somebody else came in that

room and murdered this girl.

>> But investigators found evidence that

painted a darker picture. A forensic

examination revealed that Baron's

girlfriend had at least 37 distinct

injuries consistent with a sustained

beating. The details from the crime

scene come out and some pictures as well

of his hands as an example. And what the

police say is that there was clear signs

of her having been been beaten. Bottom

line is his story is [ __ ] He beat

this girl to death. They should lock him

in a [ __ ] box forever.

>> The sheer scale of trauma left little

doubt for prosecutors that this was not

an accident.

>> There was an article that said that the

police talked to her sister. Her sister

said that she had gone and told her many

times, you know, what Phil was doing to

her and showed her the bruises and

showed her the injuries. And

>> on January 9th, 2023, a judge formally

charged the 46-year-old Baron with

aggravated femicide. He killed a female

who was from there who owned a little

grocery store who has two young kids and

from what the police officer was saying

that automatically will probably get him

really really injured if not killed.

>> He was transferred to Venustiano Karansa

State Prison in Tepic where he has

remained ever since awaiting trial.

>> I talked to an attorney yesterday and

they said that he he's missing some

teeth since he got to jail and I figured

it was the inmates and she's like, "No,

no, it was the officers that did it."

I'm hoping that Phil Bron is humbled in

there. But he deserves a day in court

and then whatever happens to him, that's

what he deserves.

>> You know who the biggest enemy for the

Italian mob is? The Mexican cartel. If

you don't think they're going to find

out he murdered a Mexican lady was in

the Italian mob, I don't think he's

going to live that long.

>> The potential consequences are

staggering. Under Naira's penal code,

aggravated femicide carries a sentence

of 30 to 50 years in prison. And some

reports suggest that depending on the

circumstances, the penalty could stretch

to 75 years.

>> Phil was moved into a halfway house

that's run by the cartel.

>> And it it's a costly ordeal when the

extortion starts. The uh cartels run the

police, they run the halfway houses,

they run the prisons. And we were able

to get Phil into a safe place, halfway

house type situation. In that halfway

house, Phil can do a lot of things. He

can work out. He can train people. He

can bring charmas in. Phil loves to

smash the ladies. That's no secret.

>> Drugs, alcohol. Like I said, you paid

the cartel hundreds of thousands of

dollars. You can do and get away with a

lot of things.

>> What happens to a lot of Americans is

once they can no longer extort you, they

send you there to die. Now, Phil's

family insists that Phil is innocent.

For Baron, who will be 50 in 2026, a

conviction would almost certainly mean

spending the rest of his life behind

bars.

>> He's not a killer. He was never a

killer.

>> The reaction across the MMA world was

one of disbelief and sadness.

>> I've known him for a long, long time.

He's always been a little a little off,

a little high, very temperamental. Yes.

Very.

>> Baron had long been known for his

impulsive streak and brushes with

controversy, but few could have imagined

such a violent endgame. Well, it turns

out he went to Mexico with his

girlfriend from New York, beat her up,

she went back, pressed charges on him,

and now he's wanted in New York, but

then he stayed there, and he killed

Paula. His past now seemed like

foreshadowing. The hot-headed fighter

who once struck a referee in the UFC,

who failed a steroid test and strike

Force, who defended his friend, War

Machine after that fighter's brutal

assault on a partner, now stood accused

of an even graver crime himself. For

many, it was a chilling realization of

how the lines between persona and

reality can blur. As of 2025, Baron

remains behind bars in Tepeic. Reports

suggest he has proclaimed his innocence

through his lawyer, framing the tragedy

as a fight gone wrong. But the evidence

compiled by Mexican prosecutors appears

damning. Delays in the court system have

stretched out proceedings. Yet,

authorities seem confident in securing a

conviction. In the meantime, Baron's

once vibrant combat sports legacy has

been completely overshadowed by the

brutality of the charges against him. It

is a tragic and cautionary final

chapter. The same fighter who once leapt

onto the cage screaming I'm the best

ever.

I'm the best.

>> After an 18-second knockout now sits in

a prison cell, facing decades of

confinement. For fans and fighters

alike, the fall of Phil Baron is both a

reminder of his explosive highs in the

cage.

>> He took hits like no one else had

because he didn't care about getting hit

in the head. You take his criminal

history as a kid and you take alcohol,

drugs, and it's not an excuse for what

he did, but you just start to think like

this is what made him do it. and a stark

lesson in how violence outside of it can

consume a life entirely.

>> Everyone that I could possibly reach, I

talked to them. But the one thing they

all said about Phil is over the years of

his life, they saw the changes in him

mentally. Said the same thing. He would

stutter his words. He would be slower

when he would speak. He couldn't put

together sentences properly. Everyone

said the same thing. Today, instead of

the bright lights of Madison Square

Garden or Saitama Super Arena, Baron

sits confined in a Mexican prison cell,

awaiting trial. In the end, he will be

remembered both as a thrilling brawler

who once screamed, "I'm the best ever to

the world," and as a man whose violent

choices outside the cage destroyed

everything he built. This is a friend of

Baron, and uh Baron reached out to him

asking him, this is happened in August.

He asked him for money because he wanted

to go to the hospital, a special

hospital to get his head examined. He

knew he had an issue and he was reaching

out to people for help. So, he obviously

knew he had CTE. I can't help but think

of how bad his case of CTE must have

been.

>> You know, you can have too much bravado.

You can have too much crazy and then

it'll ruin your life.

>> Yeah.

>> But some guys, they just can't the crazy

burns them down. It burns down

everything around them and then you know

you got the CTE.

>> When Baron left the UFC when he was 32

years old, Dana White saw the signs and

he said, "You know what? You need to

retire now." He fought 10, 12 years

after Dana originally said for him to

quit because he saw the signs in him.

>> And CTE comes into play. Then there's a

lot of guys that just get real

impulsive. They become addicts. They

[ __ ] up all relationships. They can't

keep their [ __ ] together. They're either

crying or they're they're angry.

>> There's some guys that are just bad

eggs. Like

>> there are guys that are bad eggs, but

there are guys for sure that are bad

eggs that then get CTE.

>> He is trying to beat the case with the

CTE and that he can't remember or is

crazy, but that doesn't work in Mexico.

Baron left a boy without a mom and loved

ones suffering.

>> I heard her family did know she was

being battered and abused by Baron. I

think she was too afraid to leave Baron.

Maybe he threatened her. When I spoke to

the lawyer, he told me there is no way

Baroni beats the case. This guy is

dangerous. He should not be left free. I

hope justice gets served.