Craig Jones is one of the best grapplers in the world today and he is notorious for his lower body attacks- Craig Jones cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with at the 2017 ADCC by submitting multiple time Black Belt World Champion, Leandro
Lo - Craig holds victories over Rousimar Palhares, Murilo Santana, Nathan Orchard and many other bjj superstars
- This is one of the most unique leg attack systems there is
- Become competent in leglocks and learn to apply them from everywhere in the world
Craig Jones had arguably the best breakout performance of any grappler in
history at the 2017 ADCC in Finland when he quickly submitted many of
the top contenders and no one even knew who he was....
Craig Jones Was A purple belt living in the middle of nowhere, Australia – where Koala Bears are
as common as squirrels are in the U.S. training on a continent where no
one had ever won a medal as a Black Belt at the World Championships.
After his coach told him that he wasn’t even allowed to roll with anyone
not affiliated with their very small gym, he left and started training
in a garage – in Australia – with beginners as a purple belt just 2
years ago.
Try to imagine, without laughing.. a skinny purple belt competing against the
great Leandro Lo, the legendary Murilo Santana or the gangster from West
Linn, Oregon: Chael Sonnen. They would surely murder him…
In Sports, in business, and in life.. sometimes what appears to be a
prohibitive lack of resources can be turned into an incredible advantage
if the will is strong enough. Often the guys who are too naïve to know
they don’t have a chance – have a chance, a great chance. Craig, worked
like crazy on his leg attack system: studying every match he could find
on Youtube.
The 26-year-old has earned submission victories over Leandro Lo, Murilo
Santana, Nathan Orchard, Darrah Oconaill, and Chael Sonnen, and the
future looks bright for Jones as the pro event invites keep coming.
Jones has two sub victories in the Submission Underground promotion
since May, one at SUG 4 over Micah Brakefield and another at SUG 6
against Ben Egli. He just recently competed in EBI 14 and made it to the
finals against the red-hot Gordon Ryan, nearly tapping the ADCC Champ
with a vicious armbar in overtime.
Creating The System
He came up with first attacks and then he asked “what if they do this..?" and he
had a counter.. and again, and again.. He did this with his local
training partners and he became one of the best leg attackers in the
world. There was a hint of where he was in May, 2017 when he paid his
own way and competed at EBI 11, he defeated very tough 10th Planet
Veteran Nathan Orchard, then submitted one of the best competitors from
Europe: Darragh O’Connell via Kneebar.
The submission-only style of competition seems to suit Jones’ jiu-jitsu
best, as he possesses a high understanding of the leg-attack game. In
fact, seven of his 11 victories this year have come by way of heel hook.
Known to pull guard rather than elect for top position, this strategy
has allowed him to climb deep into several recent no-gi tournaments,
including EBI and the prestigious ADCC Championship.
Everything came full circle for Craig after he qualified for the 2017 ADCC at the qualifiers
in Kazakhstan. His first match was against the Great Leandro Lo – the 5x
World Champion in 3 different weight classes. Craig saw the draw and
said to himself what virtually anyone else would have said: “Oh F**k.”
After his initial thoughts, Craig decided to remain calm and trust in
his leg attack system.
The match began and Craig worked Leandro into a Reverse Heel Hook and went for it
full throttle. He heard a loud snap as Leandro pulled out of it. Leandro
escapes!!! Was this man super human? Well yes.. and no. Leandro
escaped, but his knee must have been destroyed.
He wasn’t the same guy and Craig quickly took his back and choked him. No one does
that – it was a victory by leg attack that only technically was a
choke. But however it happened, Craig Jones, who had just began studying
leg attacks in the middle of nowhere Australia a couple of years
earlier had defeated one of the greatest champions of all time.
The next match was against Leandro’s good buddy, Murilo Santana: the man who many feel is
the greatest competitor in the world in the gym and a No-Gi World
Champion. Well the secret was out… Murilo was very wary of Craig’s leg
attacks. Craig used a fake ankle lock to jump into a flying triangle
when Murilo defended the ankle lock: it was the most beautiful
submission of the weekend and almost everyone watching live and on their
computers said the same thing: “Craig Jones? Who the hell is Craig
Jones?”
In the Open Class, he was matched up with the legendary Chael Sonnen – the highest
paid MMA figher of all time by most accounts, an incredibly strong
wrestler and it wasn’t even fair. Craig used his system pulled guard and
tapped this crazy strong 220 lb wrestler in about a minute.
It Is The System Craig’s system is very easy to learn. There are some pieces to
it, but he was able to go from a Purple Belt to one of the best Black
Belts in the world in just 2 years. That isn’t to say that everyone who
learns it will get as good as him, but they will surely be able to be a
lot better than they are and submit a lot of upper belts – even black
belts, if they learn it well enough. No one else trains this stuff.
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