Yahoo Sports UFC Reinstates Travis Browne After Domestic Violence Investigation Results are Inconclusive
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Friday announced that Travis Browne’s temporary suspension has been lifted after an investigation into his estranged wife’s claims of domestic violence revealed “inconclusive evidence.”
UFC officials temporarily suspended Browne and launched an independent investigation after his estranged wife, Jenna Renee Webb, posted a series of photos on Instagram showing multiple bruises to her arms, legs, neck and face. She captioned the photos with, “Probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made was walking away from this life and starting over. I’m still ashamed for saying as long as I did.” She posted a broken heart emoticon followed by the hashtag #domesticviolenceawareness.
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In Friday’s statement reinstating Browne, UFC said the investigation into the allegations was conducted by a former FBI agent with more than 25 years of experience. The seven-week investigation included interviews with multiple subjects associated with Browne and Webb, as well as interviews with Browne and Webb themselves.
The investigation found inconclusive evidence to support claims of alleged domestic violence involving Browne and inconclusive evidence that he had violated the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy.
That didn’t exactly give Browne a squeaky clean seal of approval, but the UFC expects him to return to competition in the coming months.
“UFC takes allegations of domestic violence very seriously, and they will be investigated for their validity,” the statement continued. “If proven true with facts, it will result in swift action on our part.”
In addition to its statement, which included much more detail than many past statements of similar Fighter Conduct cases, the UFC also released a Public Summary regarding the investigation, which is included in full below.
PUBLIC SUMMARY RE: BROWNE INVESTIGATION
In an effort to provide the public with additional information regarding UFC’s investigation of allegations of domestic violence by Travis Browne, while honoring the competing interest of protecting the privacy rights of all the individuals who voluntarily cooperated in the investigation, UFC provides the following summary:
Upon learning of the posting of photographs on social media on or about July 8, 2015 by an individual reflecting bruises on their person and corresponding commentary that Travis Browne had committed the acts resulting in the bruising, UFC, through the Las Vegas-based law firm Campbell & Williams, began efforts to retain a third party to conduct a thorough, independent investigation into this matter. In mid-July, Campbell & Williams retained a private investigator with more than 25 years of experience as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation operating out of the Los Angeles Field Office and as a Special Inspector General for the United States of America. The investigator has overseen countless investigations involving thousands of witnesses and subject interviews.
As part of his nearly two-month investigation into the Browne matter, the investigator and his colleagues interviewed nearly a dozen individuals located in several states. The interviewees included the principals of the investigation, former spouses, individuals with close personal relationships and health-care professionals. Additionally, the investigator obtained various forms of electronic data reflecting interactions of the principals with each other and third parties. The investigation also included electronic and hand searches for relevant civil and criminal records, law enforcement service-call records and the like.
Based on the abundant evidence gathered to date, the results of the investigation are inconclusive to support the claims of alleged domestic violence involving Browne. Similarly, the evidence was inconclusive to support a finding that Browne had violated the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy. The evidence gathered in the investigation has also been reviewed by Donald J. Campbell, Esq. of Campbell & Williams, a former state and federal prosecutor with extensive experience overseeing criminal investigations, who likewise concurs that the results of the investigation are inconclusive.
