(This story first appeared in the Indianapolis Star.)

BALTIMORE – Had the 2011 NFL lockout lasted just a little bit longer, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones wouldn’t have been the only member of his family with professional fighting experience.

Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Arthur Jones, Jon’s older brother, revealed to the Indianapolis Star that he was planning to compete in a professional bout before the end of the lockout meant his professional football contract went back into effect and nixed his plans.

“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.”

Despite finding success on the football field, Arthur does boast some martial arts prowess, as he was a two-time New York state wrestling heavyweight champion and in the off-season trains in other disciplines alongside his brother at New Mexico’s famed Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA.

“I was a really good wrestler, so that was my base, but I do a lot of boxing in a my off-season training,” Arthur said. “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.”

Jon was also a high-school wrestling standout, setting the table for his 2008 transition to MMA. But while Arthur competed at heavyweight, Jon was a 195-pounder, and the elder sibling said “Bones” had the tougher task.

“I must confess here: I had the much easier route wrestling at 275,” Arthur said. “Jon had all the studs in his weight class, wrestling 195. Those are men sizes – the average man as a senior or junior in high school. His competition was a lot stiffer than mine. I had better competition once I got to the state level, but Jon always had tough competition. But he was a guy that never quit.”

With Arthur’s football career in full swing, he might not ever realize his onetime dream of competing in the cage. But with a Super Bowl title to his name, earned during his time with the Baltimore Ravens, Arthur isn’t hurting in terms of professional sporting accomplishment, even as his brother can claim the title of UFC champion. Jon defended his 205-pound title on Saturday night with a dominant win over Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 in Baltimore, where Arthur played for four years for the Ravens before signing with the Colts in March.

“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.”

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