Junie Browning Gives Full Account of Phuket Brawl

Junie Browning has been in the MMA news for a week now after his involvement in a brawl in Phuket. The initial report accused him of beating up a woman earlier in the day then then getting in a brawl in a bar and a second brawl in the hospital.

Browning now gave his full account of the story to the Phuket Gazette. It's lengthy but a lot of it is important to get an overall layout of the situation.

Junie's description of the brawl:

I could tell from the moment he stepped in front of me, he was looking for a fight. At this point, it just involved me and Simon, my girlfriend was standing next to us. In only a few seconds, my girlfriend was thrown across the street and I had been hit from behind in the back of the head by a glass beer bottle.

I stood up looking for my attacker and found myself surrounded by a mob of people. It was no longer a man on man "bar brawl" but a fight for my survival. I was trying to defend myself in the street when at some point I fell back to the ground.

They [dragged] me back into the bar where they pummeled me with punches and kicks. It was me against everyone. For a second time I received a massive blow over the head with a thick glass mug that split my head open and made me fall to the floor.

I curled up in the fetal position, submissive, and I continued to be kicked and hit. My arms up covering my face I felt a slice to my forearm and another stab to my neck.

A Thai girl had a knife and was attacking my head with it. I must have lost consciousness from blood loss because the next thing I knew, my girlfriend had sprawled her body on top of mine to protect me from any more blows. She was screaming that it was "enough" and that the fight was over.

Browning says he had to be revived twice in the ambulance and was taken to the hospital where the next part of the story and the "fight in the hospital took place." That and the tale of Junie going into hiding after the jump...

Once at the hospital:

They began to assess my wounds and stitch up the three large gashes on my head. Without any consideration to my safety or the events that had just occurred, they placed both Menzies accompanied by MJ Castro, and the man who had attacked me with a mug, in the beds right beside me.

Needless to say, I became furious and again words were exchanged. As it escalated a second time into a physical fight, MJ attempted to intervene and was struck in the rumble. Security and Patong Police arrived and restrained all parties. I was taken into the waiting lobby on a stretcher in handcuffs in front of numerous people to finish giving me medical attention.

Now, to interject for a moment here. This is one of the inconsistencies in Browning's story. Not that I don't believe him and I fully believe that the evening was probably an insane blur if his account is true. But earlier in the article, Browning says "All of my attackers remained standing in the bar unharmed" so I'm curious why two of them were suddenly brought to the hospital and placed in beds.

Anyway, continuing:

My intentions were to file a police report in the morning and deal with this in a civil manner. Hours later, my phone began to ring with numerous reliable sources stating that we were not safe and we needed to leave now! They said that local Thais and mafia had a price on my head and were headed to the hospital and both my girlfriend's and my life were at risk.

We were told to trust or talk to no one and to just leave. We are aware that the mafia is a real thing and took this very seriously. We panicked and decided that our best option was to escape in the middle of the night and hope we could make it home.

Our first thought was to get a hold of the police for protection, but were told that it was corrupt and that they would be of no assistance. My girlfriend pulled out my IV and jumped a fence to find a taxi to come pick me up.

Browning ends his explanation by saying that they've been on the run from the attackers and the mafia, attempting to get the assistance from the US Embassy while still suffering badly from his injuries. It's a wild tale and at this point all you can hope is that, regardless of who started what, Browning is able to get medical help and the involvement of the Embassy to ensure safe and fair handling of the situation.