Fighting A Woman For $1M, Ukraine War & Gordon Ryan - Craig Jones - #792

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello everybody, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Craig jones. He's a Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete, owner of B-Team and founder of the Craig jones Invitational. Craig has decided to go to the front lines of the Ukraine War and since returning to America has entered an even more dangerous territory, combat tournament promotion. Today, we get to find out which is more ruthless. Expect to learn the crazy, dangerous parts of the world Craig has been living in recently, the reason he's going to fight a woman in August, where you can go to get one million dollars in cash from, why combat athletes are all so poor, what it feels like to fire a bazooka, why Craig designed sunglasses with a tiny spoon on them and much more. Even if you are not a BJJ fan, Craig is a very unique and interesting character. Some would say a menace, but I find him pretty fascinating. The life that he is leading, the way that he is trying to upend the world of martial arts is super intriguing. And I hope that you take lots away from this one. But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Craig jones. Craig jones, welcome to the show.

**Craig Jones** (1:32)
I'm here, I'm alive for now. By the time this airs, I might be dead by.

**Chris Williamson** (1:38)
I have to say, I'm not that interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as the sport itself. Kind of complex to work out what's going on, but I have been pretty captivated by what's happened over the last few months.

**Craig Jones** (1:51)
I mean, yeah, full-time trolling. That's my commitment at this point. I mean, you're right, the sport is uninteresting, but it's full of weird characters I can provoke and make it interesting on a surface level. Some of the strangest, most serious people in the world that take what they do very seriously. But for me, it's a bit weird, it's a bit gay, it's a bit easy to poke fun at. So that's my target in life.

**Chris Williamson** (2:13)
Why do you think Brazilian Jiu Jitsu attracts such a particular subset of people?

**Craig Jones** (2:20)
I mean, it's a good question. I think some of the people were bullied, so it's like an empowerment thing. But then when you climb the ranks and get to the top, it's meant to kill your ego, but it gives you a bit of power. And then these guys take it very seriously. Obviously, in the kimonos, they tie the belts, they've worked hard for it. So I love to provoke it. Also, it looks weird, and they're self-conscious about that. So me, I'd rather embrace that than push back on it.

**Chris Williamson** (2:45)
Right, because there's no way that you can roll around with another man for up to 45 minutes and it not be a little bit, like, what are we doing here?

**Craig Jones** (2:52)
Yeah, 100%.
So it's like everyone's not enjoyed that aspect of it, but me, I own it, I'm comfortable with it. You know, like we have to get used to having someone's balls in our face. You know, we're sweating each other's mouths. It is what it is. We should laugh at it.

**Chris Williamson** (3:06)
You're public enemy number one right now, kind of. What have you done for the people that don't know what's happening right now in the world of grappling? What have you done?

**Craig Jones** (3:14)
Yeah, I mean, I have I have a friend. I'll say a friend. It's an anonymous source. Or maybe I made made the money through other means. Obviously, we've been going to Ukraine. We've gone to different countries where perhaps there's different sources of funding. I've been in Dubai, you know, like some go get a handbag. I come back with a few million, you know, and I've used this money to basically support the sport. So I've decided to throw a tournament where we're going to give away a million dollars to the two divisions under 80 kilos over 80 kilos. And that is a hundred times more than sort of the other event that people consider the Olympics of our sport. And I've decided to throw the same weekend to sort of make the athletes choose, because it's a, what's worth more, the prestige of a long running tournament or money. And I think it's money. And it seems to be proving that, proving that way basically.

**Chris Williamson** (4:08)
Why is the sport of BJJ so poor? Why is everyone in it so broke?

**Craig Jones** (4:14)
I mean, for the same reason you don't watch it, I think, you know, like I think most average fans rather watch MMA. It's a sport you only really watch if you participate in. Whereas MMA is a sport that people enjoy to watch. And have no interest in participating in it at all. So our audience is sort of capped. But the sport is growing. So there is some money in it. Like we make money off of instructional seminars. If you have some funny jokes on Instagram, you know, you can make some money too. So the money's there, the audience is there. sometimes they'll sell 10 to 15,000 seats at an arena. And obviously the streaming rights. So there is money there. It just in competition doesn't really funnel back to the athletes.