Former MMA fighter Phil Baroni was charged by a state judge in Mexico with aggravated femicide Monday.
Baroni, 46, was living in the coastal region of Sayulita and San Francisco in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, when he called police Jan. 1, after finding his girlfriend, a woman from Mexico City, unresponsive.
Office of the Public Prosecutors agents presented evidence to the judge establishing Baroni, a former UFC, Pride, Strikeforce, Bellator and ONE Championship fighter, as the suspect in her death.
In a release requested by ESPN, the general prosecutor of the State of Nayarit Office said that Baroni verbally and then physically assaulted the woman, causing “at least 37 injuries” that resulted in her death.
Baroni, who was advised by a public defendant Monday, will remain at Venustiano Carranza State Jail in Tepic until the trial begins sometime in the next six months.
Penal code for the Mexican State of Nayarit dictates a 30 to 50-year sentence (the highest in the State) for the crime of aggravated femicide.
Baroni retired from MMA with a 15-18 pro record. His last combat sports appearance was a boxing contest in December 2021 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, about 25 miles from where he was arrested.