Who is the face of Jiu-Jitsu these days? The common answers point to Gordon Ryan, but he is not really active and is on his way out, leaving the door open for one of his rivals, former teammate and leader of one of the best BJJ competition teams in the world to take the reign. I’m, talking about Craig Jones, of course. To be honest, many people would’ve jumped to him before Ryan anyway, me being one of them.
But where exactly did Craig Jones come from? Even though it feels like he’s always been around, lurking near the 2nd place on the podium, he does have an origin story and it is a very entertaining one at that.
Craig Jones was not a complete unknown when people first noticed him after a memorable performance at EB. After all, he did fight at the ADCC, didn’t he? But he is a fairly new BJJ sensation, that first caught attention at EBI 11- The welterweight.
As are most things Australian, the humble-looking grappler is a dangerous and extremely lethal predator and possesses a true knack for business. But, how did he come to be such an accomplished BJJ athlete and where was he hiding all this time?
Craig Jones BJJ Beginnings
Craig Jones was born on July 17, 1991, in Adelaide, South Australia. Ever since early childhood, he was interested in sports. Although his first sporting adventures included football and basketball, he soon abandoned them for martial arts.
Instead, Craig turned to Judo and Taekwondo, albeit briefly. As a teenager, he discovered MMA and that seemed to fit him better than the traditional arts. With dreams of becoming a UFC world champion, 15-year-old Craig Jones enrolled in a BJJ academy run by his cousin.
At the ISOHEALTH Academy, under the tutelage of Matt Jones, Craig started making a name for himself in the local grappling scene. When he reached purple belt, Craig migrated to the Maromba BJJ Academy in Melbourne. This academy later morphed into Absolute MMA which was his home base prior to the B-Team headquarters in Austin, TX.
In 2015 Jones received his brown belt from Lachlan Giles after an eye-catching IBJJF Worlds performance. It was around the same time that he got to teaching full-time in Melbourne. A year later, Giles awarded Craig Jones a BJJ black belt.
Off the mats, Jones also succeeded wherever he set his mind to. He is now completely dedicated to BJJ, but during his rise, Craig Jones also got a degree in Psychology, more specifically in Behavioural Science as a safety net. It is safe to assume that he’s been using that knowledge a lot lately.
Craig Jones BJJ Career (So Far)
Initially, I wrote this article in 2018. Since then, Craig has led a very turbulent grappling life, constantly making the headlines, mostly for the right reasons. You can expect me to update this piece over and over again as Craig keeps pulling stuff out of his sleeve. But where did it all start for him?
Before Craig Jones became known to the world, he built a name for himself in Australia. His BJJ endeavors prior to his groundbreaking ADCC performance were no easy feat. His first magnificent burst onto the BJJ scene was thanks to his performance at the 2015 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds.
He defeated every opponent in impressive fashion, earning the title of world champion. The enigmatic 26-year-old later said that he trained with a small group of friends in his living room, but still dominated everyone. Moreover, he got bronze in the 2016 UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro, which led to an invitation to compete at EBI, which ended up launching him.
The success of Craig Jones is largely due to his tight and elaborate game. His BJJ is as high level as it gets. As the BJJ world now knows, he is a leg locks specialist who needs only seconds to finish a heel hook.
Despite his favoritism towards leg locks, Jones is not one to exclude other aspects of BJJ. Apart from also having an outstanding Z-Guard, his first submission of choice was the triangle choke. Essentially, Craig is a very well-rounded BJJ athlete. His game is submission-heavy, which is no surprise given that he prefers to roll No-Gi.
In leg-locking terms, he has innovated to great success, as witnessed by his victories. The crucial points of his game can be found on this DVD.
Furthermore, Craig’s mind is as fascinating as his technical abilities, which is what makes him such a BJJ standout. He is able to perform well under any rule set, regardless of weight divisions. Jones also spends lots of time studying tape and attending seminars to broaden his game.
Another thing that merits attention is how exemplary his work ethic is. Craig Jones takes pride in performing extremely well under enormous pressure. That Psychology degree seems to be paying off in more ways than one, doesn’t it?
EBI 11 – Unveiling Craig Jones
Before his ADCC escapade, Craig Jones caught the eye by performing well at EBI 11. The eleventh edition of Eddie Bravo’s Invitational featured BJJ welterweights and was held in LA. Despite not getting to the finals, Jones put in some great performances along the ride.
Back then, he was a recently promoted black belt and a huge underdog. That did not prevent the Australian BJJ phenom from pulling off major upsets.
First, he submitted Eddie Bravo’s highly regarded black belt, Nathan Orchard in the very first round. Then, Jones went on to beat Darragh O’Conaill. Ultimately, Vagner Rocha stopped the Aussie’s run via the fastest escape in the semifinal overtime.
Despite the ultimately unsuccessful run, Craig Jones did catch worldwide attention. All this before his true breakthrough on the global BJJ scene.
Early ADCC Performances
First, let’s note that Jones was no stranger to ADCC competition. He initially won the Asia and Oceania ADCC Trials at purple belt, qualifying for ADCC 2015. His run in that competition was a short one, as he came up against BJJ World Champion Romulo Barral in the -88 kg division.
As Craig Jones put it himself “At that point in my jiu-jitsu, he would have smashed me on my best day.”
This did not discourage the 26-year-old and he was back for another try in 2017. Once again, his path took him through the Asia and Oceania ADCC Trials, which he once again won. His ADCC performance in 2017, on the other hand, could not have been more different than his previous one.
In the first round of the most elite No-Gi BJJ competition in the world, Jones was up against Leandro Lo. An impossible match for any BJJ competitor, Jones approached the fight calmly and technically. His reward was a submission victory over a legend of the sport of BJJ.
Jones did not stop there, however, adding one more scalp to his collection, in the form of another submission win, this time over Murilo Santana. His ADCC trip came to a halt in the semi-finals when he faced Keenan Cornelius. His rise to stardom, though, had just started.
EBI 14 – Almost A Champion
Not long after ADCC, Jones got an invite to re-appear at EBI, this time in the event’s Absolute division. Once again demonstrating his BJJ versatility, welterweight Craig Jones took less than 2 minutes to heel hook three much heavier opponents, reaching the final in record time.
The final of EBI 14 was a very entertaining match between two of the world’s best. One was our enigmatic Aussie, while the other was multiple EBI champion and ADCC champ, Gordon Ryan. Jones managed to get the match into overtime, where he got within touching distance of the EBI championship belt.
He had Ryan in one of the tightest armbars the BJJ world has ever seen. To his full merit, though, Gordon escaped, but not without damage to the arm, and subsequently won the match in overtime and the title with it.
Although once again coming up short, Craig Jones is far from being finished. He decided that what beat him could also make him stronger, so he jumped into the blue basement, becoming a part of the then reigning, elite competition team the Danaher Death Squad.
Puerto Rico With The Danaher Death Squad
When COVID many people in the BJJ world wondered if we would ever get back on the mats. The Craig Jones BJJ story was put on hold, just like everything else in the world. However, after those scary first few months, Danaher found a loophole and migrated his entire Death Squad to live and train in Puerto Rico, where regulations were far looser than in NYC.
At first, it seemed like a dream, and the team took training to another level, with everyone living together in a couple of houses. However, what was initially meant as a team bonding experience quickly backfires splitting the squad into two teams, which have been rivals ever since.
As COVID restrictions vanished, both teams returned to the mainland but decided on swapping NYC for Austin, and both settled in the same city. Craig Jones pulled Nicky Ryan, Nicky Rod, and several others with him, while Gordon remained with Danaher, and long-time friend and teammate Garry Tonon.
ADCC Tales
Craig’s short-lived Danaher Death Squad days did not go without a major performance, though. The 2019 ADCC saw the New Zealander in the Aussie’s corner, as Craig once again narrowly missed out on the title, losing to Matheus Diniz in the final of the -88kg division. That was the year when Gordon won the double title, proving his supremacy over everyone else.
Fast forward to ADCC 2022, and we are in the post-COVID era, with Craig and Ryan on opposing sides again, although in different divisions. Craig already had his Bteam up and running and Ryan managed to quickly dispose of former teammate Nicky Rod, in the only clash between the teams on the mats.
Craig himself, ended up second again, giving merit to the name he chose for his team, this time failing to get past Kaynan Duarte as the final obstacle in the -99 kg division. It also happened to be the last time Craig appeared at the ADCC, at least for now.
The Birth of B-Team
Upon returning from Puerto Rico, there was a lot of back and forth between Danaher and Gordon on one side, and Craig on the other. If we put all the drama aside, we end up with two teams that train and live in the same town, both drawing world-class talent but showcasing a completely different approach.
Craig managed to find a top-class facility for his team, whether he poached it from Danaher or not, and does provide a platform where people from all around the world can join. He grew his team quickly by allowing people to drop in and filtering out those who were not good enough through sheer intensity of training.
Mexican Ground Karate
While the Craig Jones BJJ story started seriously, Craig seems to have found a fun side to the fact he never managed to claw himself to a major title and build a very successful brand around it. He opted for the carefree and let’s-not-take-anything-serously approach, naming his brand of Jiu-Jitsu Mexican Ground Karate.
The complete range of shenanigans that Craig utilizes to bring attention to the B-team is too vast to cover in an article, but it is out there for everyone to see. What matters is that it works, so much so, that Craig ended up rivaling, or should I say, surpassing ADCC in his latest endeavor – a professional, invite-only tournament bearing his name.
The Craig Jones Invitational
CJI, or the Craig Jones Invitational emerged less than a year before ADCC 2024 took place. It turns out Craig was asking ADCC organizer Mo Jassim to raise the paycheck for athletes, with the ADCC offering $10.000 to the division winners. When his demands fell on deaf ears, he decided to take things into his own hands.
Somehow, somewhere, Craig found a rich benefactor that allowed him to launch the CJI, which offered professional grappling athletes $10.001 just for accepting the invite and appearing on the mats. With two professional divisions (-80 and +80 kg), the CJI offered a million dollars to the winner of each and delivered on that promise.
Craig managed to take it to the next level by scheduling the event for Vegas on the same weekend that the ADCC took place. The draw of the CJI was huge, taking away big names from the ADCC roster, and providing incredible entertainment, plus a much more significant purse for the competitors.
Craig himself decided to embrace his playful persona and only participated in a super fight that nobody could take seriously, as he fought (and defeated) Gabi Garcia in a cross-gender grappling superlight. He did, however, put two of the best-ever female grapplers up against each other in a super fight in Ffion Davies vs. Mackenzie Dern at the inaugural CJI, which steamed for free on YouTube.
What’s Next?
At 33 years of age, the Craig Jones BJJ story is far from over. With a super successful competition team and gym, and a highly promising brand in CCJI, Craig seems to be constantly on the rise. Not bad at all for a virtual nobody who didn’t get to train with world champion-level black belts on a daily basis. Ladies and gentlemen, keep an eye out for Craig Jones, who has no intentions of stopping his crazy rise from zero to hero!
If you’re interested in buying Craig Jones DVD’s you can check them HERE:
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Craig Jones DVD Reviews:
- Craig Jones The Triangle Machine DVD Review
- Craig Jones The Z Guard Encyclopedia DVD Review
- Craig Jones Down Under Leg Attacks DVD Review
- Craig Jones – The Best Instructionals
