You’re a 23-year-old phenom hours before the most important fight of your career. You and your trainers are on your way to a waterfall to get in some prefight meditation. There’s a man breaking into and stealing things out of a vehicle. What do you do? Well, if you’re Jon Jones, you chase the guy down. Yahoo!’s Steve Cofield has the story:
Jones, Jackson and Winklejohn pursued him on foot. Jones, the youngest of the group at 23, caught up to the robber and tripped him to the ground. Jackson told Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole 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 downed robber, Jackson jumped on him and applied an armbar. Winklejohn 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 after, the police arrived to arrest the suspect.
This isn’t the first time a fighter has dealt with criminals leading up to a bout. Brandon Vera and trainer Lloyd Irvin fought off a home invasion two weeks prior to UFC 89. Jones’ story is more immediate, if less life threatening than Vera’s situation. Props go out to Jones, Greg Jackson, and Mike Winklejohn for the vigilante justice. Hopefully it won’t have any negative effects on tonight’s bout.