Meet the pro MMA fighter who became a real-life crime fighting superhero.
Ben Fodor is an MMA fighter who has a 6-1 professional record. While being an MMA fighter is great, his true passion comes out at night…
Back in 2010, Fodor gave birth to an alter ego, known as Phoenix Jones, a masked crime fighting superhero who patrols the streets of Seattle, courting controversy and danger.
While he’s been involved in a number of incidents, there is one which stands out to Jones.
We were in Pioneer Square, and we heard gunshots, Fodor, 26, tells USA TODAY Sports. I started pursuit, and saw what looked like a man with a cellphone pressed to his ear.
He later learned, that what he had seen was actually a 21 year old woman clamping her hand down over a gunshot wound, while the gunman fled the scene. Wearing his superhero suit at the time, Jones chased the man down the street.
Fodor admits he hesitated to chase the man around the corner out of fear, and it still haunts him to this day.
We were right there, and we just watched her die in the road, Fodor says. It was one of those experiences where I told myself, ‘It’s not your fault that she got shot, but it’s your fault that we didn’t catch the guy who shot her.’ It’s one of those things that I think about a lot. When I hear gunshots go off, I remember that I can’t let fear keep me from moving forward.
Since then, he’s been stabbed, shot twice, hit with baseball bats and threatened by all sorts of thugs.
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His crime fighting superhero resume reads well, having stopped several car thefts, bus hijackings, broken up street fights, and most recently disarming an attacker who was carrying a knife.
But it’s not easy to keep his day job as an MMA fighter while also fighting crime at night.
A lot of the other contracts said stuff like I couldn’t fight crime six weeks before a fight, or like they would own the Phoenix Jones rights and they could produce dolls and action figures, Fodor says.
And while most fighters are after fame and success, Fodor isn’t interested in any of that. His main desire to improve as an MMA fighter, is to enhance his abilities as a super hero.
I put on a suit and I go after real gunmen in a situation where I could really die, Fodor says. I do this because I believe in it, and when I get in the cage with you, I believe that I’m going to stop you. My only goal in fighting is to improve and gain skills that I will use on the street, where there are real consequences.
The Seattle Police Department have recognised Fodor’s achievements as a positive force for the community. [source : craziestsportsfights.com]
