Craig Jones (grappler) explained

Craig Jones
Birth Date:1991 7, df=yes[1]
Birth Place:Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Residence:Austin, Texas
Height:6 ft
Weight:213 lbs
Team:B Team Jiu-Jitsu
Danaher Death Squad
Absolute MMA
Trainer:John Danaher
Lachlan Giles
Rank: under Lachlan Giles

Craig Benjamin Jones (born 17 July 1991) is an Australian grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt competitor and coach. An IBJJF World No-Gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion as a white belt, Jones is a two-time ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship silver medalist and a three-time Polaris Pro Grappling champion. Jones trains out of Austin, Texas, and is the head of B Team Jiu-Jitsu.

Biography

Craig Jones was born on 17 July 1991, in Adelaide, South Australia. In 2006 Jones started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) at his cousin's academy.[2] After getting his purple belt, Jones moved to Melbourne where he started training under Lachlan Giles. He stayed there until he was promoted to black belt by Giles while training at Absolute MMA Academy.[3] Years later, Jones moved to New York in order to train under John Danaher and alongside Gordon Ryan.[4] Jones moved with the rest of the team to Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue training and preparing for competitions.[5]

The team training under Danaher broke up on 26 July 2021, and the former members went their separate ways.[6] Jones re-located to Austin, Texas, to create a new team,[7] B Team Jiu-Jitsu, alongside Nicky Ryan, Nicky Rod and Ethan Crelinsten; where he still currently trains.[8] He is the BJJ coach of former UFC Featherweight Champion, Alexander Volkanovski.[9] He also served as the BJJ coach for Team Volkanovski on .[10]

Grappling career

In 2014 Jones was competing at purple belt and won gold at the NAGA World Championship and gold at the AFBJJ Pan Pacific Championship, a tournament held annually in Melbourne.[11] The following year, in 2015 Jones qualified for the 2015 ADCC World Championships, a submission grappling tournament held every 2 years and often referred to as the "Olympics of grappling",[12] [13] [14] after winning the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials in the -88kg (194lb) division. Jones lost ADCC World first round by submission to Romulo Barral but won the IBJJF World No-Gi Championships in the purple belt division, the first Australian male to win an IBJJF world championship.[15] A year later in 2016 Jones won bronze at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the brown belt division.[16] In 2016 Jones was promoted to black belt by Giles while training at Absolute MMA Academy.[17]

Black belt career

In 2017 Jones qualified again for the ADCC World Championship, this time during the Championship Jones submitted 5x Black Belt World Champion Leandro Lo, Unity BJJ coach Murilo Santana and Chael Sonnen before losing the semi-final to Keenan Cornelius and the 3rd place to Alexandre Ribeiro.[18] In 2019 Jones won silver at the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship.

Jones faced UFC veteran Donald Cerrone in a Combat Jiu-Jitsu superfight at the Combat Jiu-Jitsu Featherweight World Championships on 19 December 2021, and submitted him with a rear-naked choke in regulation time.[19] In 2022, Jones returned to ADCC and won silver again after moving to the -99 kg division,[20] defeating 3 x World Champion Nicholas Meregali in the semi-final, before losing via points (4-0) to Kaynan Duarte.[21] [22]

2023

Jones was booked to compete in a rematch against Meregali at Who's Number One on 25 February 2023, but had to withdraw and the match was postponed.[23] Jones competed against Felipe Pena in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 on 29 June 2023.[24] He won in overtime, by fastest escape.[25] He then competed at Quintet 4 on 10 September 2023, as part of The B-Team Bulls.[26] Jones registered two draws and two wins to help his team win the tournament.[27]

Jones was scheduled to compete against Luke Rockhold at Israel Fight Night on 21 September 2023.[28] The match was cancelled for undisclosed reasons. Jones then competed against Gerald Meerschaert in the main event of Polaris 26 on 4 November 2023.[29] He won the match by submission with a rear-naked choke.[30]

Jones won 'Personality of the Year' and 'Submission of the Year' for a Toehold he submitted Richie Martinez with at Quintet 4 at the JitsMagazine BJJ Awards 2023.[31]

2024

Jones competed against Philip Rowe in the main event of Karate Combat's Pit Submission Series 2 on February 23, 2024.[32] He submitted Rowe with a flying triangle choke and won the match.[33]

He also competed against Rafael Lovato Jr. in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 on March 3, 2024.[34] Jones won the match by submission.[35]

Jones competed against Rinat Fakhretdinov at Karate Combat's Pit Submission Series 4 on April 20, 2024.[36] He won the match by submission with a triangle choke.[37]

Jones announced on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience that he would be competing against Gabi Garcia in an intergender superfight at The Craig Jones Invitational on August 16-17, 2024.[38] Jones won the match by submission with a rear-naked choke.[39]

The Craig Jones Invitational

In 2024, Jones announced that he had secured a total of $3,000,000 in funding to host his own tournament.[40] He confirmed that there would be two divisions at under and over 80kg, with $10,001 for each competitor to show and $1,000,000 as the grand prize for each winner. It was also announced that the event would take place across August 16 and 17, 2024, in direct competition with the 2024 ADCC World Championship.[41]

Grappling competitive summary

Jones' main accomplishments as black belt:[42]

Main accomplishments in coloured belts:

Personal life

Jones has also completed a Bachelor's degree in Behavioural Science (Psychology). In 2020, Jones moved to Puerto Rico with Gordon Ryan and other members of the Danaher Death Squad,[45] before he eventually relocated to Austin, Texas to found B Team Jiu-Jitsu in 2021.

Jones operates an OnlyFans account,[46] and has made appearances on several popular podcasts like Lex Fridman, The Joe Rogan Experience[47] and InfoWars with Alex Jones.[48]

Instructor lineage

Mitsuyo MaedaCarlos GracieHélio GracieCarlos Gracie Jr.Jean Jacques Machado / Rigan MachadoJohn Will → John Simon → Lachlan Giles → Craig Jones

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Craig Jones | BJJ Heroes.
  2. Web site: Craig Jones – The Best Australian Grappler . BJJ Spot . 2020-01-14 .
  3. Web site: Craig Jones – BJJ Athlete . LowKickMMA.com . 2021-10-14 .
  4. Web site: Rollo . Ian . Craig Jones Reveals The Secrets To Success For The Danaher Death Squad . JitsMagazine . 4 February 2021 . 25 May 2023.
  5. Web site: Burne . Kathrine . Gordon Ryan And Craig Jones To Move To Puerto Rico . JitsMagazine . 19 November 2020 . 25 May 2023.
  6. Web site: Jones . Phil . John Danaher Announces The Death Of The Danaher Death Squad . JitsMagazine . 26 July 2021 . 25 May 2023.
  7. Web site: Rogers . Kian . Craig Jones Reveals He Will Continue Training With Nicky Ryan, Nicky Rodriguez, And Ethan Crelinsten . JitsMagazine . 27 July 2021 . 25 May 2023.
  8. Web site: New Team, Familiar Faces: Who is a part of B Team Jiu Jitsu? . Jiu Jitsu Legacy . 2022-03-31 .
  9. Web site: Athanur . Prateek . 2022-11-21 . 'Those guys are sort of superior' – Alexander Volkanovski's BJJ coach admits Islam Makhachev's grappling is superior to traditional Jiu-Jitsu . 2022-12-29 . FirstSportz . en-US.
  10. Web site: Craig Jones Joins Next Season of the Ultimate Fighter . 14 April 2021 .
  11. Web site: ADCC Spotlight: Craig Jones . BJJ Fanatics . 25 September 2019.
  12. Web site: 2022-02-17 . ADCC Hall of Fame names that will remain in the history of grappling • ADCC NEWS . adcombat.com.
  13. Web site: 25 September 2017. Wrestling, the Competitive Edge at ADCC . BJJ Fanatics.
  14. Web site: Coate . Ben . 2022-01-06 . ADCC Hall of Fame Archives . Grappling Insider.
  15. Web site: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) Athlete: Craig Jones . MA1 Athletes . 2022-09-08 .
  16. Web site: Clements . Averi . After Choking His Way into Grappling Stardom, Craig Jones Is Only Going Up From Here . Jiu-Jitsu Times . 2017-10-27 .
  17. Web site: Craig Jones – BJJ Athlete . LowKickMMA.com . 2021-10-14 .
  18. Web site: 1991-07-17 . Craig Jones – Grappling . FloGrappling.
  19. Web site: Combat Jiu Jitsu Featherweight Worlds 2021 Full Results and Review . 20 December 2021 .
  20. Web site: Craig Jones Moves to 99 kg for ADCC 2022 . 29 June 2022 .
  21. Web site: Stein . Liam . Live Updates & Results – 2022 ADCC World Championships . FloGrappling . 2022-09-17 .
  22. Web site: Stein . Liam . 2022-09-17 . Live Updates & Results – 2022 ADCC World Championships . FloGrappling.
  23. Web site: Nicholas Meregali v Craig Jones Rematch Postponed . 24 December 2022 .
  24. Web site: Blackett . Todd . Craig Jones v Felipe Pena To Headline UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 . Jitsmagazine . 10 May 2023 . 10 May 2023.
  25. Web site: UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 Full Results And Review . Jitsmagazine . 30 June 2023 . 30 June 2023.
  26. Web site: Quintet 4 Full Preview . Jitsmagazine . 7 September 2023 . 10 September 2023.
  27. Web site: Quintet 4 Live Results, Play-by-play, Analysis, Highlights, More . Jitsmagazine . 10 September 2023 . 10 September 2023.
  28. Web site: Burne . Kathrine . Craig Jones To Compete In Grappling Match Against Luke Rockhold . Jitsmagazine . 14 August 2023 . 14 August 2023.
  29. Web site: Blackett . Todd . Craig Jones Faces Gerald Meerschaert In Polaris 26 Main Event . Jitsmagazine . 10 October 2023 . 10 October 2023.
  30. Web site: Polaris 26 Full Results And Review . Jitsmagazine . 4 November 2023 . 4 November 2023.
  31. Web site: The JitsMagazine 2023 BJJ Awards . Jitsmagazine . 2 January 2024 . 2 January 2024.
  32. Web site: de Souza . Diogo . Craig Jones Faces Philip Rowe In Main Event Of Pit Submission Series 2 . Jitsmagazine . 2 February 2024 . 5 February 2024.
  33. Web site: Craig Jones And Joao Miyao Land Crazy Submissions In Pit Submission Series 2 Results . Jitsmagazine . 24 February 2024.
  34. Web site: de Souza . Diogo . B-Team Jiu-Jitsu Star In Main And Co-Main Event Of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 . Jitsmagazine . 4 February 2024 . 5 February 2024.
  35. Web site: UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 Full Results And Review . Jitsmagazine . 4 March 2024.
  36. Web site: Williams . Jackson . Full Card Announced For Pit Submission Series 4 . Jitsmagazine . 4 April 2024.
  37. Web site: Shock Upsets And Stunning Highlights In Pit Submission Series 4 Results . Jitsmagazine . 23 April 2024.
  38. Web site: Williams . Jackson . Craig Jones Announces Intergender Match Against Gabi Garcia For Craig Jones Invitational . Jitsmagazine . 29 May 2024.
  39. Web site: Phillips . Sabrina . Craig Jones Wins Intergender Match With Gabi Garcia By Submission . Jitsmagazine . 18 August 2024.
  40. Web site: Rogers . Kian . Craig Jones Announces Brand New 3 Million Dollar BJJ Tournament . Jitsmagazine . 27 May 2024.
  41. Web site: Phillips . Sabrina . Dates And Location Announced For Inaugural Craig Jones Invitational . Jitsmagazine . 27 May 2024.
  42. Web site: Craig Jones . 2022-08-24 . The B Team Jiu Jitsu . en-US.
  43. Web site: Submission Underground 17 Full Results and Review . 31 August 2020 .
  44. Web site: Post . Chris . ADCC 2019: Craig Jones runner-up at under 88 kg; Lachlan Giles stars with bronze in Absolute division . Fight News Australia . 2019-10-02 .
  45. Web site: Gordon Ryan and Craig Jones to Move to Puerto Rico . 19 November 2020 .
  46. Web site: It's Official, Craig Jones Has an OnlyFans Account . 14 May 2021 .
  47. Web site: Craig Jones Reveals Why He Almost Got Fired from the Ultimate Fighter . 28 May 2021 .
  48. Web site: Craig Jones Appears on Infowars with Alex Jones . 26 May 2021 .