Arthur Jones: I almost tried MMA during the 2011 NFL lockout
“I was supposed to take a fight when we had the lockout a few years ago,” said Jon Jones’ brother Arthur. “Thank God for the other guy the lockout ended.”
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones famously has two brothers in the NFL, Arthur and Chandler.
Older brother Arthur has trained in MMA off season for a couple of years, and has what it takes to be an elite fighter, according to Jon.
“Arthur has a tremendous amount of potential in martial arts,” Jon told SI’s
Jeff Wagenheim in 2012. “He has phenomenal wrestling skills, he’s a fast learner, he has a great work ethic. I just think he’s a natural fighter.”
“The dedication that it would take for him to get down to the 265 heavyweight limit [from his current 310], I think it would transform him mentally into the warrior he needs to be to compete at a high level. And he would be faster than ever and mentally a stronger person. I think he would make a great contender, if not champion, in the UFC.”
Chandler, too?
“Nah,” said Jon. “Chandler’s not a fighter, other than when we play slap boxing games in our mom’s and dad’s backyard.”
Now, in an interview with MMAJunkie, Arthur reveals that he almost gave MMA a shot during the 2011 NFL lockout.
I love MMA, Arthur said. It’s fun to watch, and it’s something I entertained early in my football career if football didn’t work out, of me fighting in the UFC. But things are going well for me right now, so I’m going to stick with my career.
I was supposed to take a fight when we had the lockout a few years ago. I was getting ready to schedule it, and I was training for it. Thank God for the other guy the lockout ended.
I was a really good wrestler, so that was my base, but I do a lot of boxing in a my off-season training. I train at Greg Jackson’s pretty much every off-season.
I love it. It keeps my mind fresh. It just keeps me hungry when it’s football season because I’m training parts and muscles and different things, and it keeps me active in different ways so I don’t get bored doing the same thing with football.
It really hasn’t hit me yet, Arthur said of his family’s success. I think it’s one of those things that when we’re done with the sport that God has blessed us with, we can sit back and say, ‘Man, I was great in this sport,’ or ‘I accomplished this.’ I think that’s really when it’s going to hit us. But right now, we’re just trying to keep our family name great.
Arthur engaged in an impromptu wrestling match back in 2011 with then fellow Raven Kelly Gregg. The defensive lineman was a three-time Oklahoma state champion (1993-1994-1995) at Heavyweight. Arthur was a two-time New York state champion in wrestling.
3 > 2 and Oklahoma wrestling > New York wrestling. Gregg gets the TD!
That is Ray Lewis giving the color commentary.