A Texas MMA trainer and husband of a UFC fighter has been arrested following allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor.
Jacob Brennan40 years old, husband of UFC women’s bantamweight Hailey Cowan, was arrested Sunday and charged with indecency with a child with sexual contact, a second-degree felony in Texas. Possible penalties include two to 20 years in prison.
The news was first reported by KWTX-TV in Waco, near where Brennan runs Next Generation/Blitz MMA in Robinson.
According to the criminal complaint affidavit, a woman told investigators that Brennan touched her inappropriately when he coached her between 2013 and 2015, the station reported. At the time the abuse began, the alleged victim was 13 years old; Brennan was 30 years old.
The victim met with detectives in early November 2023. According to her statement in the deposition, “Brennan kissed her hundreds of times and touched her vagina above and below her clothes hundreds of times between 2013 and 2015.”
One Instagram The page that went live about three months before Brennan’s arrest includes screenshots of alleged messages from Brennan to the victim, as well as Facebook screenshots of photos of them together at the gym in groups, and also just the two of them. Cowan, who reportedly began training at the gym in 2014, appears in some photos. She married Brennan in 2022.
Brennan was arrested and booked into the McLennan County (Texas) jail on Sunday. Bail was set at $75,000. Brennan was not listed as a current inmate at the jail at the time of publication.
Jacob Brennan (photo via McLennan County Jail, Texas)
Cowan (7-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a former college gymnast at Baylor, won Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022 and landed an eventual UFC contract. The 32-year-old missed weight in her UFC debut just over a year ago and lost a decision to Jamey-Lyn Horth.
Cowan was due to return last September against Zarah Fairn but withdrew due to injury. She was also supposed to be back last Saturday at UFC Fight Night 241, but recently posted photos of an injured leg and said a broken shin ruled her out of a fight with Tamires Vidal.
Brennan trained Cowan in his DWCS and UFC fights. He also appeared with her on the red carpet for the Rose Namajunas documentary at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas in 2022.
