Craig Jones is an Australian no-gi grappler from Adelaide and a black belt under Lachlan Giles. He took ADCC silver twice, co-founded B-Team in Austin, and in 2024 launched the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), a rival event with a $1,000,000 prize in each division. JitsMagazine named him its Personality of the Year for 2023.
Background and lineage
Jones started jiu-jitsu in 2006 at a cousin's academy and developed under Giles at Absolute MMA in Melbourne. He won the IBJJF World No-Gi title at purple belt in 2015, which Wikipedia notes made him the first Australian man to win an IBJJF world title, and Giles promoted him to black belt in 2016. His lineage runs through John Will and the Machado brothers back to Carlos Gracie Jr. He later trained in New York with John Danaher as part of the Danaher Death Squad, then co-founded B-Team Jiu-Jitsu in 2021 when that group split.
Competition highlights
- ADCC World Championship: silver at −88 kg in 2019 and at −99 kg in 2022. In 2017 he submitted top seed Leandro Lo with a rear naked choke and caught Chael Sonnen in a heel hook before losing to Keenan Cornelius in the semi-final.
- Polaris: middleweight champion in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and light heavyweight champion in 2018.
- Other: Submission Underground absolute champion (2019), bronze at EBI 11 and two Kasai grand prix, and an ADCC 2022 semi-final win over Nicholas Meregali.
Style and signature techniques
BJJ Heroes lists open guard as his favourite position, and he uses it to get into leg entanglements. Most of his submission wins on BJJ Heroes come from the inside heel hook and the rear naked choke. He also finishes with the knee bar, toe hold and triangle, including a flying triangle against Philip Rowe in 2024. His toe hold on Richie Martinez at Quintet 4 won JitsMagazine's Submission of the Year for 2023.
Notable matches
- Leandro Lo, ADCC 2017: a rear naked choke win over the top seed and gi world champion.
- Donald Cerrone, Combat Jiu-Jitsu (2021): a rear naked choke in regulation.
- Felipe Pena, UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 (2023): an overtime win by fastest escape.
- Gabi Garcia, CJI (2024): a rear naked choke in a mixed-sex superfight.
- Chael Sonnen, CJI 2 (2025): two buggy choke finishes after Gable Steveson withdrew.
CJI, coaching and retirement
The first CJI ran on 16–17 August 2024, the same weekend as ADCC, and paid every competitor $10,001 to show up. Jones said CJI 2 in August 2025 would probably be his last match, while leaving room for a return. He coaches UFC fighters Alexander Volkanovski and Jack Della Maddalena and supports the Guardian Project, a nonprofit in Peru.