Issue 181
August 2019
TJ Jones won an army of fans with his everyman appeal
Words by Gareth A. Davies, MMA correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, London, UK
Oh, how powerful mixed martial arts can be in its poignant moments, plucking wannabe fighters to take them from obscurity to popularity in just a few brush strokes. Two months ago, 29-year-old TJ Jones was an unknown fighter working in a meat-packing warehouse near Kansas City
Then Bellator came a-calling for the 19th ranked heavyweight in Kansas to be the fall guy in Chicago against former WWE star Jake Hager in his second appearance after jumping from pro wrestling into MMA. It was his fifteen minutes of fame for Jones on one of the biggest cards of the year; and ...oh, how he took it with aplomb.
I'd come across him in the gym in the fight hotel, swinging his arms, working out, making shapes. The Butterbean of MMA they were calling him. He looked like a no-hoper. But as his story began to resonate with the media, so the love for the big fella grew during fight week.
He sat at the top table at the news conference in Chicago. He got under Hager's skin: he made us laugh; he was a character. In the face of the besuited Hager, looking like a bloke dragged in from a bar, Jones was grinning from ear to ear.
He called it "one of the most humbling experiences" of his life, finding himself amongst the elite. He mixed it with Douglas Lima, soaked up the mood around Michael Venom Page. Admired Patricio Pitbull and Michael Chandler.
“You’ve got nothing but world-class champions up here, and then you’ve got Jake,” was his repartee at the news conference. It was very funny.
The kid had timing. And despite acres around his waist akin to 'Big Country' Roy Nelson, there was something compelling about him. Jones took to telling him story to the media with aplomb. He had got the call, and weighing 320lbs, had cut 60 pounds to fight. He had six kids, his wife 'the guvnor' at home. A class act. Overweight, yes, but not overawed.
Literally overnight, the heavyweight fighter became a fan favorite. Social media was praying for his victory, willing him on. On fight night, he never showed any nerves. We loved him, we enjoyed him, we were even willing him on as a huge, yes huge, underdog to pull off the improbable against the WWE guy, this huge athlete brooding all week through the build-up. He became a folk hero. And at the end of the day, it is the fans who decide who are the stars. He even had a swish haircut by fight night; he danced to the cage like it was a catwalk. He showed no fear.
As was scripted, though 'Jack Swagger' submitted 'Tombstone' Jones (1-1 in MMA) - a better record than Swagger, he told us - with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of the heavyweight bout. There was even controversy as the wrestler held the choke beyond the time referee Mike Beltran jumped in, with the winner booed at the All State Arena like a villain.
Two days after the fight with Hager in Chicago, Jones was back in Kansas City, packing meat at the factory. But this time being clapped in and being back-slapped at the start of his daily 4am shift, working ten hours, and sometimes a double stint, before heading home to his wife and kids. As he told Fighters Only Magazine just a few days ago, he's now in the gym every day, after shifts, after seeing his kids. "I'm actually fighting July 20 in Garden City, 50 miles from my home for a title. Jab Promotions 'Country Beat Down'.
He will be cheered to the rafters. The fame? "It didn't change anything but I'm on my phone more now - which annoys my wife (he laughs). I try to respond to every one who reaches out, negative or positive. I like to interact with people."
And they with him. A different kind of star has been born. MMA has the power to do that. To make the impossible possible. It really is a delight when fans and media turn the everyman into a fighting folk hero.
