“Did More Than Gane” – Takedown Attempt Catches Jon Jones by Surprise & Wins Fans’ Hearts With Wholesome Interaction

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is perhaps the most dangerous man in the world. While he may have a knack for finding trouble, never being more than a day’s travel away from a fresh controversy, there is another, more tender but less-talked-about aspect of his personality. A great example of this came recently as the fighter made waves on the internet for being soft-hearted off the octagon and making a little fan’s day.

In a resurfaced clip from last year going viral on MMA internet now, Jones could be seen playfully wrestling with a six-year-old child, identified as Noah ‘Bear’ Archibeque on the street. The duo could be seen taking a neutral position, and the brave kid shot for a single-leg takedown. Jones then started hobbling on one leg with his other leg in ‘Bear’s grip.

The New Mexico resident is gearing up to fight the man considered the heavyweight GOAT, Stipe Miocic in a legacy-defining bout sometime this year, after their original UFC 295 clash was canceled because Jones tore his pectoral muscle weeks before the November ’23 clash. And this injury came as somewhat of a blessing to the champ’s fans, as he has been more active with fans online, as well as in real life.

The former light heavyweight champ was on a world tour where he freely interacted with fans, as he did with ‘Bear’ last year. Needless to say, the whole affair amused fans no end, as they took to the comments section of the Instagram post to let their thoughts known.

Fans react to Jon Jones wrestling six-year-old

The resurfaced clip quickly went viral on social media and fans came up with some quirky comments on the same. Ciryl Gane caught a stray from one fan for his lackluster performance at UFC 285, where the Frenchman had submitted meekly to ‘Bones’ in the first round, quipping that the kid had proved to be more of a grappling challenge for ‘Bones’ than Gane: “Still did more than Gane.” 

Another felt that the legendary interaction had given the six-year-old one heck of a fireside tale, albeit one which none of his friends will believe when he grows up: “Nobodys gonna believe him when he is older 😂” One social media user was absolutely tickled that Jones was petty enough to not even pretend to fully go down, giving the kid the satisfaction of having downed perhaps the greatest to ever enter the octagon: “Still wouldn’t let the kid win 😂.” 

Another UFC fan quipped that he was waiting for Jones to pull out one of his signature lethal spinning elbows as the heavyweight is wont to do when grappling with his opponents: “I was waiting for a vicious elbow on the break.” One fan tried to get into Archibeque’s mind and felt that the kid would probably be exasperated and punching the air, believing he almost downed Jones but just fell short: “You know that kid was like i almost had him 😂.” 

Meanwhile, a social media user jokingly implied that he had expected the New Mexico resident to hit the child with a devastating knee to the body as he does in the octagon: “Boooom!! Knee to the body by Jones.” What are your thoughts on Jones’ latest antics? Let us know in the comments.