Employees who have filed for worker's compensation sometimes get busted by doing stupid things like skipping, jogging and engaging in horseplay while they're supposed to be sidelined by serious injury.

But, if true, this worker's comp claimant takes the cake:

Prosecutors say that laid-up L.A. city firefighter Rafael Davis was caught moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter, under the name “The Noodle:”

The 35-year-old was arrested at his Lomita home at 9 a.m. this morning on suspicion of insurance fraud, according to a statement from the L.A. County District Attorney's office.

He was hit with four felony counts of insurance fraud, the office says.

Prosecutors contend that the Los Angeles Fire Department employee filed for workers compensation insurance between Dec. 2, 2008, to May 20, 2011, even as he fought in MMA bouts.

One video we found purports to show him in a bout at the Marconi Auto Museum in Tustin late 2008:

D.A.'s spokeswoman Jane Robison said the office wasn't ready to release more details about the case, including what kind of work-preventing ailments Davis allegedly claimed to have

We do know that MMA fighting takes the kind of stamina, muscle and coordination reserved only for other elite jobs … like firefighting.

Davis was being held in lie of $30,000 bail. The D.A.'s office says he could see five years behind bars if convicted.

According to the MMA website sherdog.com, Davis has a very strong record of 12-2 (MMA fighters often have more losses than boxers as there are fewer easy bouts). He weighs 203 pounds and measures 6 feet, 3 inches.

His records includes three seven fights throughout the worker's comp claim period cited by the District Attorney's office. He won all of them, two by “submission,” one by TKO, according to the site except one.

At least he has the survival skills for jail.

Check out our story about how El Segundo firefighters pull down an average $210,000 annual salary and still manage to post a high disability rate, here.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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