Craig Jones
Born (1991-07-17) 17 July 1991[1]
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
ResidenceAustin, Texas
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Weight88.3 kg (195 lb; 13 st 13 lb)
TeamB Team Jiu-Jitsu
Danaher Death Squad
Absolute MMA
TrainerJohn Danaher
Lachlan Giles
RankBlack belt in BJJ
(under Lachlan Giles)
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Submission Wrestling
ADCC World Championship
Silver medal – second place 2022 Las Vegas -99 kg
Silver medal – second place 2019 Anaheim -88 kg

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 purple belt, Jones is a two-time ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship silver medallist 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.[1] In 2006 Jones started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) at his cousin's academy.[3] 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.[4] Years later, Jones moved to New York in order to train under John Danaher and alongside Gordon Ryan.[5] Jones moved with the rest of the team to Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue training and preparing for competitions.[6]

The team training under Danaher broke up on 26 July 2021, and the former members went their separate ways.[7] Jones re-located to Austin, Texas, to create a new team,[8] B Team Jiu-Jitsu, alongside Nicky Ryan, Nicky Rod and Ethan Crelinsten; where he still currently trains.[9] He is the BJJ coach of UFC Featherweight Champion, Alexander Volkanovski.[10] He also served as the BJJ coach for Team Volkanovski on The Return of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Volkanovski vs. Team Ortega.[11]

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.[12] 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",[13][14][15] after winning the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials in the -88 kilograms (194 lb) 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.[16] A year later in 2016 Jones won bronze at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the brown belt division.[17] In 2016 Jones was promoted to black belt by Giles while training at Absolute MMA Academy.[4]

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]

Grappling competitive summary

Jones' main accomplishments as black belt:[32]

Main accomplishments in coloured belts:[32]

  • IBJJF World Championship NoGi (2015 purple)
  • AFBJJ Pan Pacific Championship (2014[lower-alpha 3] purple)
  • ADCC Asian & Oceania World Trials (2014 / 2016)
  • NAGA World Championship (2014 purple)
  • 3rd place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro (2016 brown)

Personal life

Jones has also completed a Bachelor's degree in Behavioural Science (Psychology).[16] In 2020, Jones moved to Puerto Rico with Gordon Ryan and other members of the Danaher Death Squad,[35] before he eventually relocated to Austin, Texas to found B Team Jiu-Jitsu in 2021.

Jones operates an OnlyFans account,[36] and has made appearances on several popular podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience[37] and InfoWars with Alex Jones.[38]

Instructor lineage

Carlos Gracie → Hélio Gracie → Carlos Gracie Jr. → Jean Jacques Machado / Rigan Machado → John Will → John Simon → Lachlan Giles → Craig Jones[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ Polaris Middleweight 83.9 kg (185 lb)
  2. ↑ Polaris Light Heavyweight 93 kg (205 lb)
  3. ↑ Weight and Absolute

References

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