Longtime UFC welterweight Tim Means has been arrested on a child abuse charge in his home state of New Mexico. Means is alleged to have attacked his 17-year-old daughter during an argument over household chores.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by the Albuquerque Journal, after Means and his daughter began arguing about chores, Means head-butted the 17-year-old. According to the child, Means continued to argue with her before choking her, throwing a potato at her and punching her in the face.
Officers responded to the teenager’s call after the incident, arriving at Means’ home in Tijeras, New Mexico on April 21.
“Let it be known that there were visible hand and red marks on (the teen’s) neck, indicating she was strangled,” the complaint states, according to Albuquerque Journal’s reporting. “There was blood on and in her nose where she was head-butted and several red marks indicated she was hit in the face and on her cheek.”
Means, who is also a wrestling coach at Moriarty High School, now faces an open count of child abuse.
Means made his UFC debut in February 2012. After winning his first two fights in the Octagon, Means lost back-to-back fights and returned to the regional scene, winning two more fights before returning to the UFC in September 2013.
He has since fought 32 times in his second stint on the UFC roster.
Means’ most recent fight came in October 2024, though he has not announced his retirement and is still listed as a member of the UFC roster on the promotion’s official website.
