You don’t need a career in MMA to save lives, but it doesn’t hurt to have one—something a 37-year-old Josh Longood realized during his recent flight from Puerto Rico. As a result, the MMA fighter is now being seen as a hero for his courage and quick-thinking after he helped restrain an unruly passenger who attempted the unthinkable mid-flight, an act that could have endangered dozens of lives on board.

The incident in question took place on Sunday, May 31, on board Frontier Airlines flight 93345 from Puerto Rico to Chicago. According to reports, a supposedly intoxicated passenger tried to breach the cockpit and open the emergency exit door while the plane was cruising at about 36,000 feet. An off-duty employee initially tried to stop him. But the passenger, later identified as 51-year-old Juan Gabriel Reyes, attacked the employee.

At high altitudes, cabin pressure makes it impossible to open the flight door. But at lower altitudes, opening the door could result in death due to sudden loss of cabin pressure, freezing temperatures, and a lack of oxygen. As such, seeing Reyes choking the flight attendant, Longood, who was sitting in seat 31C returning from his brother’s bachelor party, sprang into the aisle. He pulled Reyes off the victim, forced him into a row, and pinned him against the window, thereby saving the lives of those on board from a catastrophic incident. 

In a video taken of the incident, Josh Longood, who has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, can be seen restraining Reyes with a seat belt and then assisting other passengers to restrain Reyes with hand ties. This, however, wasn’t an easy task as Reyes kept trying to slip out of the restraints, leading Longood to hold the man in place for 30 long minutes while the flight attempted an emergency landing.

The aircraft made a safe emergency diversion to Miami International Airport. Miami-Dade County sheriff’s deputies immediately boarded the plane, apprehended Reyes, and charged him with battery for attacking the employee. Later, the FBI was also brought into the fold, and Reyes is now also facing federal charges, including interfering with members of the flight crew. And he could face fines from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of over $40,000.

Following the arrest, Frontier Airlines issued an official statement, revealing what happened afterward.

“Law enforcement boarded the aircraft in Miami and removed the passenger, and the flight subsequently continued on to Chicago a few hours later,” the statement read.

Since then, the 4-0 MMA fighter has also spoken about the incident. 

Alcohol may have played a role in the incident

Speaking to Fox 8, after reaching Chicago, Josh Longood claimed he had realized pretty quickly that he had to be the one to step in, believing his MMA training would allow him to do it safely and without hurting others.

“I was kind of ready already,” he said. “I had my feet in the aisle, I knew he was going to do something crazy, so as soon as he jumped on him, I just controlled him safely, kind of pushed him against the window. I was just trying to handle it as calm[ly] as possible, making sure everybody around me was calm. They knew that I had control of the situation.”

He claimed that when Reyes was trying to slip out of his restraints, he treated him like a little kid who was throwing a tantrum. Longood also had a theory about what may have caused Reyes to put everyone’s life in danger—alcohol.

“I know he was intoxicated,” Longood continued. “I could smell alcohol on him, but you know, I’m not in his brain; I just know that whatever he’s thinking or doing, I know I’m not going to let him do that.”

After the incident, several passengers on the flight called Longwood a lifesaver and a hero.

“A lot of them thanked me when we got down to Miami, and you know, I’m just happy nobody was injured.”

This isn’t the first time an MMA fighter has gone out of their way to step in and save the day. In 2017, during Hurricane Harvey, UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis used his truck to save more than a hundred people in the flooded Houston area. In March 2024, Mark Coleman rushed into a burning building to save his parents and dog.

There are several other such stories about fighters saving lives. But one doesn’t have to be a fighter to do so. Langwood and others like him just saw a problem and took action to help resolve it.