LOS ANGELES — Dog the Bounty Hunter confirmed Tuesday that he had officially begun the manhunt for War Machine, aka Jon Koppenhaver, who is wanted in connection with the alleged beating of adult star Christy Mack.
BJPenn.com on Tuesday afternoon reported they received an exclusive update from Dog, aka Duane Chapman, on the status of the hunt.
War Machine has seven warrants out for his arrest for the alleged assault on Mack and another man in the early hours of Friday morning in Las Vegas.
Dog, who has extensive ties to the mixed-martial-arts community, told the MMA news site BJPenn.com, “We’re very close to him right now, the bell has really rung now. It takes a lot after the bell rings to make the first step into that ring, doesn’t it? This is the bell of your life, it just rang, be a man and step in.”
On Monday night, Dog tweeted an ultimatum to War Machine from his @DogBountyHunter account. The tweet read, ". @WarMachine170 better 2Give All You Excuses To The Judge ..you got 24 hrs to turn your self in or I am Coming After YOU.!#CMTDogAndBeth."
Today Dog tweeted, "#CMTDogAndBeth War Machine YOU HAVE 6 HOURS LEFT !!SEE YOU SOON !!"
Chapman became well known from his "Dog the Bounty Hunter" reality show that ran for eight seasons on A&E until 2012. The show chronicled Duane "Dog" Chapman's experiences as a bounty hunter in Colorado and Hawaii. Dog and his wife Beth have since started a new TV show called "Dog and Beth: On the Hunt" on CMT that debuted last year and is in the midst of its second season.
Mack won the 2014 XBIZ Award for Best New Starlet, while War Machine is a professional fighter with 19 pro bouts. There is a $20,000 reward for information leading to War Machine's capture. Corey Harrison from the History Channel's "Pawn Stars" on Tuesday night pledged an additional $10K to the bounty in a tweet from his @corey_harrison account.
Dog also gave an interview to SportsGrid.com, asking readers for any leads they could give him in the search. In the interview, Dog claimed to have received a phone call from War Machine.
"We’re getting leads and believe me, we have connections everywhere," Dog told the site. "We are just about camera-rolling ready.”
SportsGrid asked Dog what he would say first if War Machine called again:
"I'd say you have a police officer as a father. Your grandfather is a great person. You have people who care about you.
"The fact that you called me is good — that’s the first step you just made. Follow through. And if you don’t, someone is going to shoot you. Cops aren’t trained to fight MMA fighters, they are not going to screw around. We know that. They are going to shoot you. Be smart.”
In a story posted on MMAMania.com late Tuesday, Dog said he had been working on the War Machine case even before the arrest warrants were issued Monday.
"I have friends in the MMA world, so you know how that goes," Dog told the site. "If it's something that happens in your domain or area of expertise then you know what's going on. We heard about it right away."
He went on to say that he did not know Mack was a porn star until today and that he believes that friends of War Machine will urge him to surrender.
"Very soon you are going to see pleas for him to come in because we are going to catch him — we are very close to him right now," Dog said. "We just have to handle it right because we don't want anyone killed."
Dog the Bounty Hunter said earlier today that he had officially began the manhunt for the man formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver, now known as War Machine. I reached out to Dog the Bounty Hunter for an update regarding where he is at in the hunt for War Machine, who currently has 7 warrants out for his arrest.
Dog said the following:
“We’re very close to him right now, the bell has really rung now. It takes a lot after the bell rings to make the first step into that ring, doesn’t it? This is the bell of your life, it just rang, be a man and step in.”
We will continue to update you with news as it is made available.
- See more at: https://www.bjpenn.com/exclusive-dog-the-bounty-hunter-releases-statement-on-manhunt-for-war-machine/#sthash.ogMQTuCJ.dpuf
