MMA fighter War Machine to face trial in beating case

Two victims faced former mixed martial artist War Machine in court on Friday and described how he brutally attacked them in August after finding them in bed together.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth later praised the fighter’s ex-girlfriend, one of the victims in the case, for standing up to him after enduring more than a year of abuse.

“She’s really on the warpath to combat domestic violence at this point,” the prosecutor said.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson heard the testimony of former adult film actress Christy Mack, whose real name is Christine Mackinday, and her friend Corey Thomas before ordering War Machine to stand trial on 34 counts.

Among the charges against War Machine, also known as Jonathan Koppenhaver, are two counts of attempted murder — a charge that carries a possible sentence of life in prison without parole.

“Either of these two people could easily have died,” Andress-Tobiasson said.

Koppenhaver, 32, will be arraigned in District Court on Thursday. He did not testify at the preliminary hearing.

The ex-Bellator MMA and Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter was arrested after the Aug. 8 assault on Mack and Thomas. Prosecutors later added new charges stemming from incidents that occurred as early as May 2013. Prosecutors added two more counts after Friday’s testimony.

Thomas took the witness stand first, saying he met Mackinday in June and began dating her. He said they were watching a movie at her Las Vegas home on the night of Aug. 7 when they fell asleep on the couch.

After midnight, the pair moved to Mackinday’s bedroom. They were sleeping with her two pitbulls when the bedroom lights came on and they saw Koppen­haver in the doorway.

“He looked at me, jumped on top of me and started whaling on my face,” Thomas testified.

He said Koppenhaver proceeded to bite his cheek and arm.

“My face was covered in blood,” Thomas said.

He said Koppenhaver repeatedly punched and choked him before letting him leave. Thomas then drove away while Mackinday and Koppenhaver remained at the house.

“It never crossed my mind that he would hit her or beat her,” the witness said.

Thomas said he called a friend, who told him he needed to go to the hospital. The friend also called police.

“I was debating whether to report the incident or not,” Thomas said.

Thomas, who suffered a broken nose and dislocated shoulder, was reunited with Mackinday later that morning at the hospital.

Mackinday took the witness stand after Thomas’ testimony and said she met Koppenhaver in May 2013 during “an adult shoot.”

They began a romantic relationship within a few weeks, but Koppenhaver turned violent after a few months, she said.

After asking whether the relationship involved sexual violence, Bluth pointed out that Koppenhaver was laughing, a claim the defense denied.

“I watched him laugh,” the judge said.

Mackinday, who described her height and weight as 5-feet-1-inch and 115 pounds, said Koppenhaver often hit and choked her.

She said she regularly took pictures of her injuries and stored them in a secret folder on her phone, but Koppenhaver took the device during the August attack.

She said Koppenhaver was living in her home near the Las Vegas National golf course before he moved out in May, taking his key with him.

Mackinday said she stayed in contact with Koppenhaver after she began dating Thomas. She said she and Thomas had stopped dating before the attack, and she considered Koppenhaver her boyfriend at that time.

“But immediately following this incident, he became my ex-boyfriend,” Mackinday testified.

After Koppenhaver burst into her bedroom and began beating Thomas, the witness said, she immediately put the dogs outside and called 911.

The woman cried as she listened to the 911 recording in court on Friday. Her screams could be heard in the background.

“I was yelling for Jon to stop,” Mackinday explained.

After Thomas left, the woman said, Koppenhaver took off his shirt and came after her. She said she does not remember the first blows.

“He was screaming at me, and I could taste my own blood,” Mackinday said.

She said he forced her to take a shower, and she remembers being on her hands and knees at one point, when Koppen­haver kicked her in the ribs.

“Throughout the entire thing, he had a knife,” she said.

Mackinday said he used the steak knife, which broke during the attack, to poke her in the head, hand and ear. She said he also used his hand to sexually assault her.

After noticing the severity of her injuries, Koppenhaver told her, “Now I have to kill you.”

Mackinday said he left and went to the kitchen, and she assumed he was looking for another knife.

The woman said she took the opportunity to escape through the back door. She went over the fence and onto the golf course before knocking on neighbors’ doors in search of help. One neighbor agreed to call police for her.

Mackinday said her injuries included a broken nose, a shattered eye socket, two knocked-out teeth, a lacerated liver and damage to her leg.

Andress-Tobiasson later commented, “I shudder to think about what would have happened had she not escaped from the house.”

Bluth said Mackinday was confined and beaten for about two hours during the ordeal, which the prosecutor described as a “bloodbath.”

Mackinday went through months of surgeries and has an oral surgery scheduled for December.

“It’s been a long road to recovery,” Bluth said after the hearing.

Police said Koppenhaver attempted to commit suicide at the Clark County Detention Center last month. He appeared fidgety during his preliminary hearing, frequently bouncing one or both heels up and down as he sat with his ankles shackled.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer.