Eat your heart out Bob Reilly. Mixed martial arts is a lot more than a money grab viewed by savage fans; it can be a real life saver. Saturday afternoon in the streets of Paterson, N.J., Jon Jones and his trainers applied their gym techniques when they spotted a robber, chased him down and subdued him.
Thanks to Tracy Lee for the tip, photo link and video below
Jones, who was scheduled to�fight Saturday evening in Newark for the UFC light heavyweight title, was on his way to meditate in front of a waterfall in Northern New Jersey. Jones, along with Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, spotted the suspect breaking into a car and stealing some objects. According to the account given to Yahoo!'s Kevin Iole by Jackson, the group shouted at the robber and he took off.
Jones, Jackson and Winkeljohn pursued him on foot. The robber eventually fell and Jones, the youngest of the group at 23, caught up to the robber and tripped him to the ground again. Jackson said that Jones "foot swept" the suspect.
With the robber on the ground, Jackson began yelling to his fighter to stay away. Once the trainers caught up to robber, he tried to get up. Jackson said he "double-legged" him and jumped on top applying an arm bar. Winkeljohn went for the other arm to make sure he didn't have a weapon. In the scuffle, the robber was bloodied. The trainers said some blood got on their pants. Shortly afterward, the police arrived to arrest the suspect.
Less than an hour after the incident, Tracy Lee spoke with Jackson.
This is the second time in the last month an MMA-related move was used in a high-profile story to subdue a criminal. Joe Lozito, New York-area laborer, tackled an alleged murderer on a New York subway.
Reilly is the New York assemblyman leading the crusade to keep MMA events out of New York State. The ban by New York is a big reason why the UFC has placed several events just a few miles away across the Hudson River in Newark's Prudential Center. Jones faced Mauricio Rua -- and beat him with a third-round TKO -- in the main event of UFC 128, stepping into the�Octagon roughly� 7 1/2 hours after his run-in with the robber.
Jackson mentioned that Jones eventually reached that Paterson-area waterfall.
"It was an incredibly beautiful waterfall," said Jackson.
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