Former UFC lightweight title challenger Hermes Franca was sentenced to three and a half years in jail yesterday for sexual abuse of an underage student. The original charges were seven counts of sexual abuse and two counts of unlawful sexual penetration but a guilty plea got those charges reduced to one count of each.

Via Oregon Live:

Hermes Franca Barros, 37, pleaded guilty in Clackamas County Court on Wednesday to one count of unlawful penetration and one count of first-degree sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 3½ years in prison.

He was arraigned in May on seven counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of second-degree unlawful sexual penetration. The remaining counts were dismissed.

Barros will also have four and a half years of post-prison supervision and must register as a sex offender.

Barros, a resident of Jupiter, Fla., turned himself in to Clackamas County Sheriff's Deputies in May after a warrant was issued for his arrest, stemming from a December 2010 encounter with one of his students.

I'll refrain from any comment here as I don't have any more details, but it's been a very quick decline for Franca since getting his title challenge.