The Baltimore Ravens drafted DT Arthur Jones (Syracuse) in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. They knew he was coming off an injury and would be a project, but felt he had the skills, mental toughness and smarts to be an NFL player. What they might not have known is that he comes from a pretty tough family. Art's brother, Jon Jones is a highly ranked Ultimate Fighter and has even said that little bro Art would be a decent UFC fighter himself.
However, yesterday and then last night were Jon's chance to get on the sports pages around the world and even now here on Baltimore Beatdown. Jones fought and won the light-heavyweight title over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128 in Newark, New Jersey.
Funny thing is, it wasn't the fight that drew as much attention to Jones as it was his heroics earlier in the day. As he says in his post-fight press conference, Jon likes to find a quiet place in nature to meditate with his closest friends just prior to fighting and despite the fight being in what most would say is a questionable neighborhood, they thought they found the spot.
(Read more on this fascinating story and see the link to the video after the 'Jump')
When Jones and his crew were getting out of the car to find peace for a few moments before his war in the ring, they happened upon an elderly couple who had just been robbed. His crew took off in the direction of the crime and after thinking for only a second, Jon Jones joined in. It didn't take long for Jones to sprint past his guys and come up on the heels of the robber, running with the loot in his arms. The robber fell and Jones, along with his friends, apprehended the perpetrator until police arrived.
Even though they were in a strange neighborhood, the residents came out side and voiced support for their actions. Even the police were surpried to see Jones at the scene, as they recognized him and when the victims found out, they blessed him to wish him luck.
It must have worked, as Jones is now UFC light-heavyweight champion. Towards the end of the video, one of Jon's handler's mentions comments made by Art Jones that Jon made to the robber in his attempts to rehabilitate his bad ways. Check it all out here.