As if getting arrested for indiscriminately pepperspraying a group of post-club shit kickers wasn’t bad enough, Phoenix Jones aka MMA fighter Ben Fodor also had his $6000 supersuit taken away by the cops. Not content to stop messing with him there, the government has now also stepped in and gotten him fired from his day job. His more superhero job than his actual superhero job: working with developmentally disabled autistic children!

Last week, Jones received a letter from the state Department of Social and Health Services, informing him he is no longer allowed to work with kids. PubliCola was not able to determine exactly why DSHS disqualified Jones from working with kids, but it appears to be due to his pending assault case.

When contacted for a comment, Jones said he had been advised not to speak extensively about the circumstances of his apparent termination, but confirmed he was no longer able to work with autistic children.

“They all knew I was Phoenix Jones,” he says.

Jones says that because of his arrest, he’s on “a list” that prohibits him from working with children, because he has “a history of interjecting myself into situations that are dangerous.”

Jones, naturally, disputes that characterization. “I would say I have a history of fighting crime,” he says. “The whole point of what I do is to keep people safe.”

Jones isn’t sure how he’ll pay the bills now. He says he’s received offers for fight bouts from the Strikeforce mixed martial arts organization, and plans to start fighting crime in the daytime, in addition to his night patrols around Seattle. Other than that, he says, “I really don’t know.”

Normally I’d say what’s the point of getting a job with Strikeforce because you’re going to end up just as unemployed in a few months. But in this case I’ll stop being a giant cynic and say yeah, it would totally be cool if Phoenix Jones joined Strikeforce. Not only does it totally sound like the plot to comic book, but the guy is essentially being punished for being awesome by getting fired from a job that desperately requires awesome people. Those kids need a real life superhero, and I’d say Jones had a resume that fit that description.