Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Dan Swift knows for better days. He has started serving his time stemming from his initial arrest in August 2016.

Swift was found guilty of three felony counts of animal fighting, a misdemeanor count of possession of animal fighting paraphernalia, a misdemeanor count of possession of an instrument of crime, and seven out of fourteen summary counts of cruelty to animals.

He was sentenced to 10 to 20 months in jail. He was subsequently removed from a grappling card due to this conviction.

Back in August 2016 the judge made the verdict:

 A dogfighting conviction has temporarily ended Erie resident Danny R. Swift’s freedom and permanently ended his ability to own dogs.

Swift, 42, was sentenced to 10 to 20 months in the Erie County Prison on Thursday and banned from having dogs.

Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender, who sentenced Swift in the standard range of the state sentencing guidelines, called dog fighting “a sadistic enjoyment of a brutal spectacle.”

Brabender turned away the defense’s argument that Swift cared for the dogs, all pit bulls. One photo presented in the case showed Swift and the dogs around a Christmas tree.

“The real world for those dogs was in the basement, where the dogs (were) in a cage,” Brabender said. “That is the real world for these dogs, not Danny Swift and the dogs around a Christmas tree.”

Swift was a member of Jorge Gurgel SAS Team and a black belt under Johnatan Stutzman. He has since been kicked out.  This isn’t his first newsworthy event in his black belt tenure, about a year back he made a video that explained why he believed that Chris Weidman shouldn’t be fighting and has less than a blue belt level in jiu jitsu given his inability to shake Rockhold from the mount position.

You can watch the alleged dog fighting ring owner explain his noble rationale for critiquing Weidman here.