Former UFC Fighter Kimo Leopoldo: Not Dead, Says Attorney

Tustin Police Department

Irvine-based former UFC fighter Kimo Leopoldo, who was sentenced on Monday to 10 days of community service following a February arrest in Tustin, is not dead, Yahoo! reports--despite articles to the contrary published earlier today from sources including TMZ, the Huffington Post, the New York Daily News and, according to Yahoo!, the Orange County Register.

Most of the reports followed TMZ, who last month accurately reported Michael Jackson's death hours before CNN and other more traditional sources. The now-vanished story stated that "several MMA websites are reporting Leopoldo died from a heart attack." Several mainstream sources ran with the story, perhaps given TMZ's early breaking of Jackson's death. The Register is now calling Leopoldo's death "doubtful." Some articles reporting his death are still up as of the writing of this blog, like this one from Inquisitr (whatever that is). The Yahoo! story quotes attorney Victor E. Hobbs as saying that Leopoldo has "surfaced" as of this afternoon.

This is not the first odd news story to involve Leopold, the circumstances around his February arrest are pretty weird, as well; he was arrested for having drugs in his car while wearing a Long Beach police jumpsuit.

(Also, please appreciate our restraint in not using a "Reports of Kimo Leopoldo's Death Greatly Exaggerated headline.)