Former MMA fighter Travis Fulton has killed himself in prison after agreeing to plead guilty to possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a minor.
The 44-year-old, who was nicknamed ‘The Ironman’, was found in his cell on Saturday in Linn County Jail in Iowa.
The fighter had been held since February and was indicted by a federal grand jury for felony sexual exploitation charges and the receiving and possession of child pornography.
In one of the cases, he was accused of convincing a 13-year-old girl to meditate with him before stripping her down to her underwear and performing a sex act on her after allegedly putting her in a trance.
A second girl also made allegations against the mixed martial artist. He is also accused of taking photographs of the girls.
Fulton was found unresponsive during a routine cell check at 4 am and he was transferred to Mercy Medical Center. Medics attempted CPR but he was pronounced dead at the hospital as reported by DailMail.
Just a day before his death, ‘The Ironman’ had agreed to plead guilty to two of the four charges relating to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.
His defense team had challenged a search warrant which led to the seizure of his electronic devices where investigators found the pornographic images.
Judges ruled in favour of the government and upheld the searches in a verdict on Thursday.
On Friday, Fulton filed a notice saying he intended to plead guilty to all charges and a plea hearing had been scheduled for July 23.
The fighter was also charged with repeatedly punching a woman in the head and threatening to kill her in September 2019 in Black Hawk County, Iowa.
Fulton, who was also a professional boxer, fought in mixed martial arts since 1996 and was involved in a record 320 fights, including two UFC bouts.
When questioned over the sex act with a 13-year-old, he initially admitted the meditation but denied any touching took place.
