Following deportation and jail, Hermes Franca to fight in Chechnya

Hermes Franca was a top lightweight competitor until facing charges which led to a prison term, which was dropped after a year and led to his deportation from the United States. Franca would retire from MMA, and look to clean his past and start a new chapter in his life.

In January of 2012 Franca was initially charged with seven counts of sex abuse in the first degree as well as two counts of unlawful sexual penetration in the second degree. He would eventually plead guilty to a single count of both unlawful penetration and first-degree sexual abuse. The incident reportedly involved a young student at his martial arts academy.

Following his arrest and deportation to Brazil back in 2013,  Hermes Franca returned from a three-year retirement and faced Marcio Breno at Extreme Fighter event in Brazil on August 28, 2014, losing via first round knockout.

Franca (22-13, 1 NC) will return to action, this time in Chechnya when he faces Shamil Zavurov (26-3-1) at Terrible battle 2. Zavurov is the former M-1 welterweight champion and will join the tournament which will be held on June 13 in Grozny.

Franca, 40, will fight this match in the welterweight class.