Jon Koppenhaver, a mixed martial arts fighter who legally changed his name to 'War Machine', is on the run after viciously assaulting his ex-girlfriend last week. Now the pseudo television celebrity known as 'Dog The Bounty Hunter' is trailing him and intent on bringing Koppenhaver to justice, but is the media frenzy being whipped up over this beginning to overshadow what is a deeply serious and disturbing crime?

Jon 'War Machine' Koppenhaver is a moderately successful mixed martial artist, though he'd take issue with that description. Most athletes in the sport of MMA embrace the term "martial artist" as an appropriate way of describing the levels of dedication to their training and the peace of mind it gives them. Not Koppenhaver though. He describes himself as a "fighter", clearly unconcerned with any of the mental, physical or spiritual benefits of the sport that so many of his peers claim has changed their lives.

What happened in the home of Koppenhaver's ex-girlfriend, porn star Christy Mack, last week sends a shiver down the spine. Shortly after 2am last Thursday night, Koppenhaver allegedly showed up unannounced at Mack's Las Vegas residence. Mack, whose relationship with the fighter ended last May, and a male friend were the only two people home.

Jon 'War Machine' Koppenhaver | Twitter

What happened next almost doesn't bear thinking about. Without speaking a word Koppenhaver (again allegedly) assaulted Mack's companion in a frenzied attack, breaking his nose and biting him. He then turned his attention to his ex-girlfriend and used his fight training to deliver a brutal and prolonged assault which only ended when Mack escaped through the back door to the safety of a neighbour's house while Koppenhaver went into the kitchen to get a knife.

When all was said and done Christy Mack was left with an almost incomprehensible series of injuries. In her own words, "my injuries include 18 broken bones around my eyes, my nose is broken in 2 places, I am missing teeth and several more are broken. I [am] unable to chew, or see out of my left eye. My speech is slurred from my swelling and lack of teeth. I have a fractured rib and severely ruptured liver from a kick to my side. My leg is so badly injured I have not been able to walk on my own. I also attained several lesions from a knife he got from my kitchen. He pushed the knife into me in some areas such as my hand, ear and head. He also sawed much of my hair off [with] the handle and continued to threaten me with the blade. I believed I was going to die."

Then, in what can only be described as an incredibly brazen act, 'War Machine' took to Twitter almost immediately to explain his side of the story. His first tweet after the assault read: "I can't believe this. I must be cursed". He continued to explain his side of the story, saying that he wanted to surprise her with an engagement ring and didn't know how to react when he found another man there, in what is essentially a textbook case in the politics and explanation of spousal abuse.

Koppenhaver's Twitter feed has been barren since then. He hasn't been seen since that night, despite having a series of immediately distinguishable tattoos on his neck and hands. Currently there are seven arrest warrants issued for him and, considering that he's already been to jail twice in his life, it looks like he could be incarcerated for a long time. There is also a bounty of $20,000 on Koppenhaver's head and this is where the story takes another twist…

Duane 'Dog' Chapman | WENN

Duane Chapman is a bounty hunter, who goes by the name of 'Dog'. He made international headlines when he captured serial rapist and Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster in 2003 which led to a series of poorly-produced television shows bearing his name. As soon as the news broke in this story Dog was tweeting, saying that he was going to track down Koppenhaver and bring him to justice - with a camera crew in tow of course

On a hubristic level it seems to fit the situation perfectly. An MMA fighter assaults his porn star ex-girlfriend, so who better than the star of a series of less-than-successful television shows to bring this matter to its inevitably tabloid-style conclusion? For his part, Dog has been Tweeting warnings and threats to his target and telling anyone who will listen that he's "close" to securing his man but it all just smacks of money-grabbing self publicity.

This has become a fully-fledged media circus. The story of Dog's pursuit of Koppenhaver threatens to overshadow the entire reason why the chase is happening in the first place. Christy Mack clearly wants and deserves to have Koppenhaver brought to justice but is staying clear of referencing Dog The Bounty Hunter's pursuit in any way, instead telling fans to call the police if they spot Koppenhaver.

Koppenhaver has been on the run for more than a week and it remains to be seen when this incident will be brought to its conclusion. Mack, for her part, will take some time to heal up and it wouldn't be surprising to anybody if the mental scars remain long after her physical ones have healed up. Let's not forget that she (and her friend) are the victims here and, as potentially enticing an episode of television as Dog vs. War Machine might be, let's not for a moment allow ourselves to be swept up in the headlines when the only real story here is how a trained fighter used his skills to brutalise a woman half his size - nothing more.

More: Christy Mack on Twitter (NSFW) | War Machine on Twitter | Dog The Bounty Hunter on Twitter