Craig Jones: Enemy of Russian Sambo

Craig Jones vs Russian Sambo

Craig Jones is a renowned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler-turned-coach who has been instrumental in training UFC champions to overcome wrestling-centric opponents. He served as the grappling coach for UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski and Jack Della Maddalena, brought in specifically to help neutralize elite wrestlers like Islam Makhachev and Belal Muhammad.

Jones’s influence was evident in Volkanovski’s title fight against Makhachev – Volk largely stifled the Dagestani’s vaunted ground control in a surprisingly competitive bout. Likewise, Maddalena’s camp credited Jones for his takedown defense; Jack stuffed most of wrestler Belal Muhammad’s shots and kept the fight standing en route to a decisive victory.

In short, Jones has rapidly become the go-to coach when strikers need to level up their anti-wrestling skills, and his early success has MMA fans buzzing about just “how good is Craig Jones’ coaching?”

Satire and Trolling: Sambo Myths & Dagestani Jokes

Outside the gym, Craig Jones has earned a reputation for his sharp wit – regularly mocking Dagestani fighters and Russian sambo with tongue-in-cheek taunts. Never one to hold back on satire, Jones often takes to social media to poke fun at the grappling pedigree of fighters from Dagestan (the region famed for Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev).

For example, as talk of a Makhachev vs. Maddalena showdown grew, Jones posted a meme calling sambo “fake” with obvious sarcasm. “Sambo is literally just 2 judo guys that decided to take their pants off to wrestle… Which I respect. Sambo and wrestling once again proved to be fake, [Islam Makhachev],” Jones quipped on Instagram.

He even posted a video of himself with the caption –  “the one thing every Russian man fears”.

These satirical jabs, while trolling in nature, also underline Jones’s confidence that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can trump sambo – and they’ve made him something of a cult figure among fans who enjoy his irreverent humor. Importantly, everyone (including Jones) understands the comedic tone; his mockery isn’t mean-spirited so much as it is a light-hearted way to hype fights and challenge the aura of invincibility around Dagestani grapplers.

Became purple belt by learning from BJJ books

Craig Jones’s jiu-jitsu journey is unorthodox – he was largely self-taught up to purple belt, learning from books and illegally acquired instructional videos before eventually training under legendary coaches Lachlan Giles and John Danaher.

Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Jones began BJJ in 2006 at a small gym run by his cousin. With limited access to high-level instructors, young Craig devoured any grappling resources he could find, from library books to online DVD tutorials. This do-it-yourself approach carried him through the lower ranks. In fact, by the time he earned his purple belt, Jones had already won an IBJJF world title at that level and decided to seek out world-class mentorship.

He moved to Melbourne and joined Lachlan Giles’ academy, Absolute MMA, where Giles – a respected Australian black belt – took Jones under his wing. Under Lachlan’s tutelage, Jones’s game evolved rapidly; he earned his brown and then black belt from Giles within just a couple of years (by 2016). Not long after, Jones caught the eye of famed coach John Danaher and became part of Danaher’s elite competition team in New York.

Training alongside grappling icons in the Danaher Death Squad, Jones refined his leg lock prowess and overall strategy. This blend of gritty self-learning and formal training with the best in the world shaped Craig Jones into one of grappling’s elite – a two-time ADCC silver medalist known for his dynamic submission game. It’s a background that fans find inspiring: Jones proved you can start in your garage (or in his case, a small-town gym with stolen DVDs) and still reach the pinnacle of BJJ with passion and creativity.

Advice to not train every day

Jones openly pushes back against the “train 24/7” mentality – he criticizes the idea of grinding in the gym every single day year-round, instead advocating for smarter training cycles with plenty of recovery. 

In a sport famous for its “everyday oss” culture (where some boast about never taking a day off), Jones is a voice of reason. He’s said that constant hard rolling without rest is a recipe for burnout and injury. Instead, he preaches quality over quantity: focus on purposeful sessions, then let the body heal and adapt.

Those close to Jones have noted that he typically limits himself to one intense training session per day and often skips sparring on off-days to study tape, teach techniques, or visualize strategy. By avoiding overtraining, he can peak at the right moments – for big tournaments or when coaching fighters in camp – rather than being worn down all the time. Jones also stresses the importance of periodization (having an “off-season” and “on-camp” approach).

Train hard when the time is right, then back off and live life, as he might put it. As Jones likes to joke, it’s better to be the guy who trains smart and can still walk when he’s 50, than the guy who trained like a maniac and retires at 30 with a broken body.

Transparency on TRT and PED Use

Unlike many athletes, Craig Jones speaks openly about his use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), sharing details of his regimen under doctor supervision in order to educate others and discourage taboo or reckless steroid use. 

Jones has candidly admitted that he started using PEDs around 2017 and eventually transitioned to a physician-guided TRT program. Rather than hide it, he’s very transparent: on podcasts and social media, Jones has even listed his exact weekly dose (for example, around 200mg testosterone plus small adjuncts) and frequently posts his blood test results. 

“I’m not trying to hide anything,” he emphasizes. “I want people to know that you can accomplish things at a high level without going completely overboard on the dangerous stuff.” In other words, he’d rather young grapplers hear the honest pros and cons from him than see them secretly abuse steroids out of misguided beliefs. Jones even jokes that no one believes he’s on steroids because he’s not overly bulked – a testament to his moderate, health-first approach. Love it or hate it, this openness about TRT in a traditionally hush-hush corner of sports has added to Craig Jones’s credibility as a straight shooter.

A Million-Dollar Grappling Tournament

Jones isn’t just coaching and competing – he’s also revolutionizing grappling events, famously organizing a high-stakes tournament with $1 million payouts that put the rest of the BJJ world on notice. Frustrated with what he saw as paltry prize money in major tournaments, Jones launched the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) in 2024, an open-weight grappling extravaganza that promised life-changing sums to its champions. The inaugural CJI, held in Las Vegas, featured two 16-man divisions (over 80kg and under 80kg), each with a cool $1,000,000 grand prize to the winner. (For context, $1M is 100× the prize for winning ADCC, the next biggest grappling event, so this was huge.)

Jones went all-in on promotion – literally. He appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and dramatically dumped $1 million in cash on the table as proof that the funding was real. Rogan, astonished, admitted he’d “never seen a million dollars in one place!”. The stunt worked, drumming up massive interest. Top grapplers, lured by the payday, signed on.

In fact, Jones convinced several ADCC stars like Nick Rodriguez, Nicky Ryan, and Mason Fowler to “jump ship” to CJI. Even former UFC champ Luke Rockhold joined the brackets. The event itself was free to stream on YouTube, drawing a record live audience for grappling. It “couldn’t have gone any better,” Jones said afterward – and he wasn’t wrong. Fan favorites Nick Rodriguez (+80kg) and Kade Ruotolo (–80kg) each won their division’s million-dollar prize, instantly becoming grappling’s first “competition millionaires”.

Jones also spiced up the show with creative superfights: notably, he himself faced off with 9x world champion Gabi Garcia in a tongue-in-cheek intergender match, which Craig won by submission to cap the night. By giving every participant a $10k+ appearance fee and openly challenging the status quo (the CJI deliberately ran the same weekend as ADCC 2024), Craig Jones sent a message. He proved that grappling can draw big audiences – and that athletes deserve a far bigger piece of the pie.

The CJI is set to return in 2025, and it’s already being hailed as a game-changer in competitive jiu-jitsu.

Dagestani Dominance: Myths vs. Reality in Jones’s Eyes

Craig Jones has strong (and sometimes controversial) opinions on MMA grappling – he argues that the dominance of Dagestani wrestlers is driven more by aura and smart marketing than by any supernatural technique, insisting the best submissions still come from BJJ specialists and the best top control from American folkstyle wrestlers.

Having studied fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev up close while coaching Volkanovski, Jones isn’t overly mystified by their style. He breaks it down in simple terms: Sambo (the Russian/Dagestani grappling base) is essentially wrestling with some submissions sprinkled in – and in Jones’s view, “Sambo is pretty bad as a grappling art” when it comes to submitting opponents.

“[Makhachev] submits people but I don’t think he has good submissions. It’s a wrestling culture… Sambo and wrestling [are] once again proved to be fake,” Jones has jested, only half-joking. What the Dagestanis excel at, he notes, is holding people down and capitalizing on mistakes.

Jones points out that fighters like Islam often win by imposing a smothering top game from half-guard or guard and waiting until a panicked opponent gives up their back or neck. In other words, their success is built on fundamentals and patience, not some secret “unstoppable move.” He also believes there’s a huge psychological factor – the aura of invincibility. Jones famously said Makhachev and Khabib have a “Mike Tyson effect” on opponents: fighters are so scared of the Dagestanis’ legend that they psyche themselves out and make foolish errors on the ground. 

Closing Thoughts: Why Craig Jones is Gaining Attention

In a sport that often takes itself too seriously, Craig Jones strikes a unique balance between credibility and cheekiness. He’s an elite grappler with bona fide coaching chops, playing a pivotal role in game-planning for UFC champions. At the same time, he’s the guy cracking jokes about sambo on Instagram, happily donning the troll cap to promote fights or ideas. This blend of accomplishments and personality is why you’re hearing his name more and more.

Casual fans are drawn to his humor and blunt honesty (whether it’s calling out “myths” in MMA or admitting to TRT use), while hardcore grappling aficionados respect his innovative techniques and willingness to push the sport forward (as seen with his million-dollar tournament). In short, Craig Jones is not your traditional buttoned-up coach or one-dimensional competitor – he’s part coach, part entertainer, part entrepreneur. And as he continues to rack up successes – helping fighters defy expectations, building his own events, and yes, roasting a Dagestani or two along the way – you can expect to see a lot more of Craig Jones in the MMA headlines.

He’s having fun, shaking things up, and proving his point: in the world of combat sports, technique and wit can go hand-in-hand – and Craig Jones has plenty of both.