from mmajunkie.com
UFC lightweight Hermes Franca, an attendee at Wednesday’s WEC 36 event in Hollywood, Fla., was arrested early Thursday morning in Jupiter, Fla., on a traffic offense for DUI.
Franca was taken into custody at 2:38 a.m., according to an online arrest record on the Palm Beach Country Sheriff’s Office website.
He was released later in the morning under his own recognizance, a PCSFO spokesperson told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
The spokesperson could not release additional details of the arrest other than to say Franca had been arrested and subsequently released.
Franca, 34, is a five-year UFC veteran and former top lightweight contender. He most recently defeated Marcus Aurelio via unanimous decision at Chicago’s UFC 90 event on Oct. 25.
Franca could not immediately be reached for comment.
In July 2007, Franca was found to have a banned substance in his system prior to his UFC 73 fight with Sean Sherk, who was also busted for juicing.
Franca had this to say about it, according to a news release he put out, saying he injured his ankle in training: “At this point I was desperate and needed anything I could to get my injury as close to healing as possible and be able to recover from the daily training regimen I was going through. I made the shortsighted choice to hopefully accelerate the healing process and allow me to keep training. Under the pressure of literally not being able to pay next months bills I made a choice. I had to fight and did whatever I could to do so.”
