Joe Schilling is facing a battery charge after his physical altercation with a civilian on Sunday night.
Footage recently went viral of a man — later identifying himself as Justin Balboa — flexing on the former Bellator and GLORY fighter at a bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Schilling didn’t take too kindly to it as he proceeded to knock Balboa out with a combo. And as per a police report obtained by MMA Fighting, Balboa — who is a 31-year-old busboy who works at Outback Steakhouse — claimed Schilling “hit him for no reason.”
Balboa “would not elaborate on how or why the male punched him,” according to the police report, but was “obviously intoxicated.” That same night Balboa told officers that he “only wanted the incident documented in order to file a civil suit against the establishment.”
Officers also spoke to the manager of the bar on Sunday night. The manager stated that Balboa “was extremely intoxicated and had possibly made an improper remark about the girlfriend/wife of the male who had struck him, which caused the fight to escalate.” The manager also noted that Balboa “is a regular customer who routinely causes problems at the establishment due to his intoxication level.”
Balboa’s Lawyer: Schilling Overreacted
Following the incident, Schilling notably claimed he felt threatened by Balboa while implying that the attack was justified given the man’s behavior.
But that’s not how Balboa’s lawyer Robert Solomon feels as his client plans to prosecute Schilling for the attack after watching it back.
“It was something that should not have happened,” Solomon said. “It should not have happened. You watch that video and you cringe. This is a professional fighter. To tell me you felt threatened as a professional fighter that’s fighting in the highest level of all the fighting, Bellator and all these things, I don’t buy it. I think it was uncalled for, and there’s consequences when you do things like that.
“I think a professional fighter overreacted to a situation, that he didn’t need to do what he did,” Solomon added, “and to punch somebody as hard as he punched this guy, he’s lucky he’s not dead and we’re dealing with a different type of case.”
You can watch the incident below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQqNo32HWhm/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0ba87bee-4b27-4c19-a514-1b83a476a2f8
