Craig Jones (grappler)

Biography

Craig Jones was born on 17 July 1991 in Adelaide, South Australia. He began training Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2006 at his cousin's academy. After earning his purple belt, he moved to Melbourne to train under Lachlan Giles, who later promoted him to black belt at Absolute MMA Academy. Jones subsequently moved to New York to train with John Danaher and Gordon Ryan, relocating with the team to Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the team's breakup on 26 July 2021, Jones moved to Austin, Texas, to co-found B Team Jiu-Jitsu with Nicky Ryan, Nicky Rod and Ethan Crelinsten.

Grappling career

In 2014, competing at purple belt, Jones won gold at the NAGA World Championship and gold at the AFBJJ Pan Pacific Championship. The following year he qualified for the 2015 ADCC World Championships by winning the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials in the -88 kg division. He lost his first ADCC match to Romulo Barral but won the IBJJF World No-Gi Championships at purple belt, becoming the first Australian male to win an IBJJF world championship. In 2016 he earned bronze at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the brown belt division and was promoted to black belt.

At the 2017 ADCC World Championship, Jones submitted Leandro Lo, Murilo Santana and Chael Sonnen before losing in the semi-final to Keenan Cornelius and the third-place match to Alexandre Ribeiro. He won silver at the 2019 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship. On 19 December 2021, Jones submitted Donald Cerrone with a rear-naked choke at the Combat Jiu-Jitsu Featherweight World Championships. In 2022 he again won ADCC silver, moving to the -99 kg division and defeating Nicholas Meregali in the semi-final before losing to Kaynan Duarte.

He defeated Felipe Pena at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 on 29 June 2023 by fastest escape in overtime. At Quintet 4 on 10 September 2023, as part of The B-Team Bulls, he registered two draws and two wins to help his team win the tournament. He submitted Gerald Meerschaert with a rear-naked choke at Polaris 26 on 4 November 2023. Jones won 'Personality of the Year' and 'Submission of the Year' at the JitsMagazine BJJ Awards 2023 for a toehold submission on Richie Martinez at Quintet 4.

The Craig Jones Invitational

In 2024, Jones announced he had secured $3,000,000 in funding to host his own tournament, with two divisions at under and over 80 kg. Each competitor received $10,001 to show, with $1,000,000 as the grand prize for each winner. The event took place across August 16 and 17, 2024, in direct competition with the 2024 ADCC World Championship. After the success of the first edition, Jones announced CJI 2 for August 2025, where he defeated Chael Sonnen.

Personal life

Jones holds a Bachelor's degree in Behavioural Science with a focus on Psychology. He spent 2020 in Puerto Rico alongside Gordon Ryan and the rest of the Danaher Death Squad, then founded B Team Jiu-Jitsu after moving to Austin, Texas the following year. He runs an OnlyFans page and has been a guest on shows like Lex Fridman’s, The Joe Rogan Experience, and InfoWars with Alex Jones. His older brother, Adam Jones, also a black belt, coaches at Freestyle MMA in Windang, New South Wales and runs the Scrap Mats jiu-jitsu promotion.