Craig Jones– First Australian to Win IBJJF Championship

Craig Jones is an Australian grappler, the Light-Heavyweight and Polaris Middleweight Champion, and an ADCC Silver Medalist. 

Jones is a black belt in BJJ under Lachlan Giles, who worked closely with instructor John Danaher and was a key member of the legendary Danaher Death Squad (DDS) team from the late 2010s to the early 2020s. In 2021, Craig became a member of the B-Team, a workgroup formed in 2021 by Jones and a couple of his former DDS (Danaher Death Squad) teammates.

Craig is well-recognized for his success in No-Gi grappling events and super fights around the world.

He has cemented his reputation as the best grappler of his generation by winning various major events, including multiple belt titles in the Polaris Invitational Organization and defeating the 88 kg Leandro Lo in the 2017 ADCC tournament.

Craig's ferocious lower body assaults, aggressive approach, and cool and collected temperament have earned him a reputation all around the globe.

Born in Adelaide, South Australia, on July 17, 1991, Craig was interested in sports since his childhood. He was an extremely active youngster who began his sporting career with high-intensity activities like basketball and football. But he soon switched his interest to martial arts, shifting his focus to Taekwondo and Judo for a brief period.

Craig's enthusiasm for rough-housing activities reflected his mindset as a youngster when he became interested in mixed martial arts (MMA). He soon realized that it fit him better than traditional martial arts and set his goal to become an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter by the age of 15.

In 2006, at the age of 15, Jones joined a BJJ academy, ISOHEALTH, managed by his cousin to fulfill his dream of becoming a UFC world champion.

He began building a reputation for himself in Australia’s national grappling circuit while studying at the ISOHEALTH Academy under the supervision of Matt Jones.

After achieving his purple belt, Craig moved to the Maromba BJJ Academy in Melbourne, where his tuition was eventually picked up by Lachlan Giles. This academy later evolved into Absolute MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), which Craig now calls home.

Jones obtained his brown belt from Lachlan Giles in 2015 following his great performance at the IBJJF Worlds. Around the same time, he began full-time teaching in Melbourne. Craig Jones received his BJJ black belt after only a year from Giles in 2016.

Craig Jones originally planned to compete in MMA, but after his first few BJJ fights, he noticed that he found pure jiu-jitsu much more enjoyable and decided to focus on that.

Craig Jones was able to win National and State level gold medals, including AFBJJ-SA State Championship and AFBJJ-NSW State Championship while still training in Adelaide. However, he had to move to Melbourne to take his practice to the next level.

Under the supervision of Lachlan Giles, who Craig considers to be one of Australia's top athletes and teachers, he was able to qualify for the ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Championships and became the first male from Australia to win an IBJJF world championship.

Jones won the ADCC Trials two-time along with the 2015 World No-Gi Championship for the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF).

Craig also managed to complete his Bachelor's Degree in Behavioural Science while fighting at national and international levels to climb up the ranks of jiu-jitsu.

After being exposed to the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion) in the late 2000s, Craig began practicing MMA and jiu-jitsu in Adelaide.

In 2016, Craig became an MA1-sponsored fighter and a teacher for the Absolute MMA team.

Craig Jones won the Polaris Light-Heavyweight and Middle-Heavyweight Championship in 2018 by defeating Keenan Cornelius and Jake Shields respectively.

In December 2020, Craig Jones won the Submission Underground 20 by defeating Satoshi Ishii via rear-naked choke.

Coach Danaher declared the end of Danaher Death Squad as a single training and competition team in July 2021. The main factors behind this split were personality conflicts, the physical location of the school, and tension between team brands and the increasing individual brands of members.

Hence, during the summer of 2021, Craig formed his new team called “B-Team” with some of his DDS training partners: Ethan Crelinsten, Nicky Rodriguez, and Nicky Ryan. The training base of the B-Team was set in Austin, Texas.

In 2017, Craig stunned the world by submitting BJJ icon Murilo Santana, five-time World Champion Leandro Lo, and UFC veteran Chael Sonnen at ADCC.

Due to his submission of Lo in 2017, he got the "Biggest Shocker of the Year" award from Flograppling. Moreover, his prior performances also made him earn the “Breakthrough Grappler of the Year" award.

Craig won the Polaris Middleweight Championship in 2018 after defeating grappling and MMA icon Jake Shields in a few minutes.

Jake Shields is well-known for his outstanding wrestling and grappling under duress. In order to block Craig from getting to his legs, Jake employed a low grounded base and forward pressure style against Jones .

Jones used his z-guard to keep space and keep Shields off-balance while neutralizing the pressure from the top. He expertly reached the honey hole position with his inverted sweep from the z-guard. His execution was systematic and efficient from there, which enabled him to beat Shields with a splendid heel hook in the end.

• WNO Championship
• ADCC World Championship
• Polaris (205/185) lbs Champion
• Kasai 2 & 5 Grand Prix
• EB11 Invitational
• IBJJF World Championship
• AFBJJ Pan Pacific Championship
• ADCC Asian & Oceania Trials
• NAGA World Championship
• UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro

Craig Jones vs. Roberto Jimenez

Chael Sonnen VS Craig Jones 2017 ADCC Championship

Craig Jones VS Xande Ribeiro 2017 ADCC Championship

Craig Jones vs Mason Fowler - 2019 ADCC

CRAIG JONES VS MASON FOWLER

CRAIG JONES VERSUS GILBERT

Photo credit: @craigjonesbjj