Fans surprised to see disgraced ex-UFC fighter Luis Pena compete in MMA event - "I thought he was in jail" 

Former UFC lightweight fighter Luis Pena surfaced back on to the mixed martial arts circuit in a fight against Michael Dufort at Aries FS 16.

Dufort was in control through the first few minutes of the opening round and immediately asserted himself on the ground to submit Pena in no time.

Fans on Twitter were surprised to see the ex-UFC man in action after his legal troubles had gotten him expelled from the promotion. They expressed themselves under a tweet that posted his fight's highlights:

"I thought he was in jail lol"

A fan offered a suggestion for another outing for 'Violent Bob Ross':

"Fight circus should do a women's beater beat down. Like bully beat down but you offer domestic violence offenders crazy money if they win against real nasty trained fighters (like guys they stand less than zero chance against)"

Pena's lost potential was also discussed reminiscently by a fan:

"Really dont know what happened with Pena. Even though he got injured in TUF he looked like he had big potential but he never really got going"

"What could’ve been if he had his act straight… now he’s fighting in the Home Depot lumber yard and still losing"

Others made reference to Luis Pena's domestic abuse charges that got him into legal trouble and cut from the UFC roster:

"From hitting women while In the ufc to getting finished first rounds in regionals"

"'Domestically' Violent Bob Ross"

One fan compared his situation to Dana White's recent filmed instance of domestic abuse:

"After the Dana White stuff seems like he was treated unfair. The bond was only 1k & the gf dropped the charges."

Check out Luis Pena's fight highlights against Dufort:

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Dana White claimed that domestic abusers had no place in the UFC after Luis Pena's release

Luis Pena was accused of domestic abuse and arrested by Florida police officers in October 2021 after allegedly striking his girlfriend and another woman who tried to intervene.

His arrest led to him being released by the UFC. Subsequently, president Dana White addressed the situation with seriousness:

"Well, I mean, this was a bad case. We knew that he had problems before that we were trying to help him with. This is a pretty nasty one... This one had to happen. Something like that could happen to anybody. Yeah, could happen to anybody."

Ironically, White's comments were brought to light earlier this year, when he was embroiled in a domestic abuse incident himself. White was recorded slapping his wife at a New Year's Eve party, but did not face any charges or consequences from the UFC's ownership himself.

Check out Dana White's comments below: