Former UFC Fighter Arrested in Cold Case Murder

US Marshals and police in Tempe arrested a cage fighter who once competed in the UFC on a cold-case murder earlier this week.

The authorities arrested Homer “The Rock” Moore, who boasts a 26-9-2 mixed-martial-arts record over more than a decade of competition, for the 1999 murder of Karam Hussein Jabbar. Moore invoked his fifth amendment rights when police attempted to interrogate him.

In August 1999, Mesa, Arizona police found Jabbar’s bound body with a plastic bag around his head in the trunk of his own car. Jabbar had been reported missing the previous month. When the plates on a car in a supermarket parking lot matched the missing man’s, and a foul odor emanating from the trunk raised suspicions, the cops obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and found the dead man. 

Authorities later determined asphyxiation as the cause of death. Police label the killing drug-related. The Tempe police believe others may have been involved in the slaying and continue to investigate.

The wrestler charged with murder turned professional three months prior to the killing. Though by no means a great fighter, Moore fought well enough to find himself in the cage with several marquee mixed-martial artists, including Chael Sonnen, Jeremy Horn, and the late Evan Tanner, who submitted Moore at UFC 34 in his lone appearance for the promotion. Moore holds a notable win over Joe “Diesel” Riggs and fought MMA legend Dan Severn to a stalemate in 2003.

The accused murderer joins a long list of troubled former UFC competitors.

“Lightning” Lee Murray, who arm-barred Jorge Rivera in the octagon and scored a knockdown on Tito Ortiz in the street, masterminded the largest robbery in British history in 2006. Mike Whitehead, a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter reality television show, received a one-to-four-year sentence in 2012 stemming from a rape. War Machine, another competitor on that program and a dabbler in porn acting, has served time for numerous assaults. Jeremy Jackson, who owns wins over Nick Diaz and Shonie Carter, received a 25-years-to-life sentence on a rape conviction. The UFC cut light heavyweight contender Thiago Silva in February after he allegedly threatened to kill numerous people and engaged in a SWAT standoff at his Florida home.