Craig Jones

Craig Jones is an Australian grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Lachlan Giles who worked extensively with coach John Danaher, being a big part of the famous Danaher Death Squad (DDS) competition team, led by Danaher during the late 2010s-to-early-2020s decades. Craig went on to represent the B-Team, a workgroup started by Jones alongside a few of his former DDS team members in 2021. An International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World No-Gi Champion (2015 in purple belt division) and a 2x ADCC Trials champion, Craig Jones turned many heads his way at the 2017 ADCC finals by submitting the tournament’s 88-kilogram #1 seed, Leandro Lo. Jones would later cement his status as one of the best grapplers of his generation by winning numerous prestigious events, including multiple belt titles in the Polaris Invitational promotion.

Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Craig Benjamin Jones

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Jean Jacques Machado / Rigan Machado > John Will > John Simon > Lachlan Giles > Craig Jones

Main Achievements:

• Polaris 205 lbs Champion (2018)
• Polaris 185 lbs Champion (2018 / 2019)
• 2nd Place ADCC World Championship (2019 / 2022)
• 3rd Place EBI 11 Invitational (2017)
• 3rd Place Kasai 2 185lbs Grand Prix (2018)
• 3rd Place Kasai 5 205lbs Grand Prix (2019)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NoGi (2015 purple)
• 1st Place AFBJJ Pan Pacific Championship (2014** purple)
• 1st Place ADCC Asian & Oceania Trials (2014 / 2016)
• 1st Place NAGA World Championship (2014 purple)
• 3rd Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro (2016 brown)

* Absolute
** Weight and absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Open Guard

Weight Division: Meio Pesado (88,30 kg / 195.0 lbs)

Team/Association: Absolute MMA / B-Team

Craig Jones Biography

Craig Jones was born on July 17, 1991, in Adelaide, South Australia.

Growing up Jones was a very active kid, playing a variety of intensive sports such as Australian rules football and basketball while also briefly training in taekwondo and judo. His interest in rough playing activities was a sign of Craig’s frame of mind, as a teenager turned to mixed martial arts (MMA) and by the time of his 15th birthday dreamt of becoming an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter.

With the UFC in his sight, Craig joined his cousin Matt Jones’ BJJ academy (2006), a gym called ISOHEALTH. It was under Matt’s guidance that Craig started making a name for himself in Australia’s national grappling circuit, before joining the Maromba Academy in Melbourne (later named Absolute MMA), as a purple belt, where his tuition was then picked up by Lachlan Giles.

In December 2015, after an epic performance at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championships, Jones earned his brown belt. It was also around this time that Craig became a regular BJJ instructor. One year later Lachlan Giles promoted Craig to black belt. Jones also worked extensively with John Danaher in New York City, at team Renzo Gracie, where he became one of the well-known coach’s most prominent students on the competitive scene.

While climbing the ranks of jiu-jitsu, competing regularly nationally and internationally, Craig Jones also managed to graduate with a degree in Behavioural Science (Psychology).

DANAHER DEATH SQUAD BREAK-UP

In July 2021, coach John Danaher announced the end of the Danaher Death Squad as a unified training and competition team, alluding to “the physical location of a future school, personality conflicts, conflicting values and an inevitable tension between the team brand and the growing individual brands of members” as the main factors for the split (original statement here).

Later that year, during the Summer months, Craig Jones announced his new team, one formed alongside a few of his DDS training partners, namely Nicky Ryan, Ethan Crelinsten, and Nicky Rodriguez. This new group was labeled the “B-Team” with its training base being set in Austin, Texas.

Craig Jones Heel Hook Technique