Pietro Menga goes to jail.
On Tuesday, per the Higher Manchester Police, the previous UFC signee obtained a 15 yr and 5 month jail sentence after he plead responsible to conspiracy to promote or switch prohibited weapons and conspiracy to produce cocaine.
At one level thought-about to be a prime flyweight prospect, Menga started his MMA profession with 13 consecutive wins, catching the eyes of the UFC. Based mostly in Manchester, “The Italian Stallion” was planning to tryout for season 27 of The Final Fighter as a featherweight earlier than receiving a name to step in as a short-notice substitute towards Tim Elliott at UFC on FOX 26 again in 2017. Sadly, Menga didn’t make weight, coming in at 131 kilos. Elliott refused to simply accept a catchweight bout and the UFC launched Menga, who then misplaced his subsequent 4 bouts.
Menga lastly obtained again within the win column in April of 2023, and was then scheduled to face Kiru Sahota within the OKTAGON promotion in January of 2024, nonetheless, he was arrested on Jan. 15 after police executed a warrant on his residence in Swinton, England.
Menga got here to the eye of Manchester authorities Severe Organized Crime Group after a sequence of messages over an encrypted messaging platform confirmed Menga speaking brazenly concerning the sale and buy of medication and firearms, value over $500,000. Menga is believed to have been a intermediary for an organized crime group liable for one of many largest firearm trafficking conspiracies in the UK.
