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GREENSBORO - A Mebane man arrested last week on allegations he operated an illegal fight club is the first person to face criminal charges under North Carolina's law regulating mixed martial arts events, a state offical said Friday.

Last week, the Burlington Police Department and the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Division raided Torture Chamber Tattoo in Burlington, on suspicions the owner was conducting organized fighting events for area teenagers.

Inside the business, located at 260 W. Davis St., Suite-C, investigators found a room above the tattoo parlor with an open space surrounded by chairs and numerous fist-sized holes in the walls.

They seized mixed martial arts gloves, digital scales, an Ultimate Fighting Championship rule book and schedule of upcoming fights, according to a news release.

The owner, Lannie Wells Jones Jr., 27, of 3850 Marys Church Road in Mebane, was arrested at the scene.

He was charged with assault inflicting serious injury, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and three counts of prohibited tattooing and piercing of minors without parental consent, according to Burlington police.

More charges are expected, Burlington police said.
Authorities were tipped off to the club in January, after 16-year-old Cody Gallagher of Snow Camp was taken to Alamance Regional Medical Center with injuries consistent with fighting.

Alan Fields, district supervisor for the ALE Greensboro district said Gallagher and a 17-year-old are the only two confirmed members of the fight club, which recruited members by word of mouth at Alamance County high schools.

So far, neither teen has been charged. Fields anticipates other members stepping forward.

"I know they had at least 10 fights before the search warrant was executed," Fields said. "(Jones) charged admission for folks to watch and had prize amounts for people who won the fights."

Under state law, all boxing, kick boxing, mixed martial arts and tough man events must be regulated by state ALE officials that charge admission or contestants compete for a prize of more than $25.

In this case, spectators were charged $10 admission and the fighters split the ticket sales at the end of the night, said Greg Seel, assistant police chief with the Burlington Police Department.

"This is the first arrest like this anywhere in the state once we've began regulating boxing and mixed martial arts," Fields said.

"Unregulated underground fight clubs like this are a danger to participants. This operation on only violated the law, it also resulted in at least one serious injury to a person not old enough to participate in a regulated event."

The state has regulated boxing since 1996, but amended the law to cover other forms of fighting in 2007 according to state statutes.

If regulated properly, mixed martial arts fighting is one of the safest sports in terms of fatal injuries caused each year, said Monty Hendrix, owner of Essential Martial Arts of Greensboro.

"It's very frustrating when you hear about things like this because it's not necessary," Hendrix said.

"They can do it in a regulated safe fashion and having people look out for them. (Illegal) fights undermine the efforts of people trying to compete legally and make this sport accepted by the public."

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com