📰 Is Craig Jones Just An Influencer At This Point?

Things That Keep You Up At 2 AM:

Let’s just ponder a little bit of classic Helio Gracie wisdom for a minute shall we? 🤔 

So true Heels. So true. ☝️

But also - what if, on top of having flawless technique, you could actually be that someone stronger, faster and more coordinated!? 🤔 

Well now, that’s something ain’t it!? 😉 

There’s no doubt that simply being a jacked gym guy or gal 💪 is not enough to take on a well-trained black belt (or even most part-time stoner blue belts in my experience 😮‍💨), however, if you’re up against someone of relatively equal ability - a little bit of muscle can make all the difference.

Not to mention it helps with keeping those shoulder joints in one piece and those meniscus ligaments … meniscusing? 🤷‍♂️ #shoutout30+club

So - are you an Arnold / Arnoldette that is all about that well-combined jits & gains lyf? 💪 Or are you are freak for the technique and see no need for all that extra gym time? 😎 

This week’s big question: ⬇️

The last poll’s results:

Last time we asked you - “What Convinced You To Start BJJ?”

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👯‍♂️ A friend talked me into it

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🤷‍♂️ I stumbled across it randomly and haven't looked back!

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🥊 Honestly, I was inspired by the UFC

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📝 Other (write in and let us know)

It seems most of us have found our way here thanks to a mix of our friends at the UFC and some good ol’ fashioned luck 🍀 (or was it fate 🤔).

One of you wrote in telling us of your childhood dreams to become a ninja (until you realised even ninjas get choked out 😏) …

… while another reader tells us that BJJ helped keep the spark alive! 💥 

Is there anything jiu-jitsu can’t do!? 😎 #wellyesofcourse

The Tap’s ✋, Nap’s 🥱 & Snap’s 🫰From The Mats This Week:

There have been some great matchups play out since we last spoke 📞 - with the biggest and baddest of them basically all occurring on the recent WNO 22 Card 🔥 Let’s have a look 👀 👇

1.) What’s Happened & What’s Been Happening 👀 

WNO 22 hit the mats last Friday night and paired off great Gi-Free competitors 🥋 🚫

There were more subs than Subway 🥪 (#ivehadfresher) and some super slick jits to get them 😎 

We’ve put the full results for you below, but first - here are a few great clips and key talking points:

1. Victor Hugo took it to Nicky and got the W - throwing a spicy spanner in the ‘Nicky is the only guy that could beat Gordon’ narrative 🔧 

2. Mica is so nice. And so dangerous.

3. Diego got all his ducks 🦆 in a row and moved up a weight class to take out the very talented Dante and become a dual division WNO champ 🔥 (#champchampquackquack)

4. If you only click one link today, this is the one. Note the ice-cold smile 🥶 on Adele’s face as she sets up the Aoki to tie for the fastest submission in WNO history 🤯 

WNO 22 Full Results:

Main card

• Victor Hugo def. Nick Rodriguez via decision

• Mica Galvao def. Kenta Iwamoto via submission (rear-naked choke) – WNO welterweight title

• Diego “Pato” Oliveira def. Dante Leon via submission (heel hook) – WNO lightweight title

• Tainan Dalpra def. Oliver Taza via decision 

• Adele Fornarino def. Amanda “Tubby” Alequin via submission (Aoki lock)

• Jacob “The Hillbilly Hammer” Couch def. Sebastian Rodriguez via submission (heel hook)

Preliminary card

• Elijah Dorsey def. Ivan Herrera via submission (shoulder lock from back)

• Daniel Sathler def. Max Hanson via submission (armbar)

• Ashlee Funegra def. Marilyn Cruz via decision

• Dory Aoun def. Kyle Chambers via decision

And while there weren’t many other top-tier events to speak of since our last email - there have been a bunch more put on the calendar 🗓

Here’s what else is coming up!:

• UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 - Nicholas Meregali vs Matheus Diniz, Craig Jones vs Rafael Lovato, Nicky Rod vs Roberto Jiminez

• Karate Combat Pit Submission Series 2 - Craig Jones vs Philip Rowe, Joao Miyao vs Ricky Simon

• ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African Trials 2024 - Many many weapons including Sam McNally, Ashley Williams, Oliver Taza, Tommy Langaker, Mateusz Szczecinski, Adam Wardzinski etc.

2.) Is Craig Still A Legit Competitor? Or More Of An Influencer? 📸 

Craig Jones is without a doubt as big as a name gets in modern BJJ 📈

And while he has been a dynamic and high-level competitor for many years now, his recognition and notoriety within the BJJ world is arguably more so down to his edgy, fun-loving, controversial and often hilarious antics off the mats.

Most jiu-jitsu competitors only reach any level of fame in the sport by winning top competitions and taking out their closest rivals, Craig however, quickly became famous for his second-place results 🥈

Not only did he become comfortable with this fact - but he doubled down and leveraged it to spin off some of the most successful BJJ brands on the scene - namely The B-Team & El Segundo podcast 

Now, this isn’t to take away from the fact that Craig has taken on the best in the world over the years and landed many amazing wins - but as time goes on he seems less interested in top-level competition and high-risk / reward matches - and more excited about nose beers, BDSM and trolling everyone he can 😎 

Whilst still in his prime and seemingly pretty injury-free, he’s stated he is on the fence about ADCC 2024 - recently leaning more toward matches with mid-level UFC guys and the nearly retired while also pumping out content that is not even loosely related to BJJ, but pretty ‘on-brand for his unique personality.

So I guess the question could be asked: is Craig still more of a top BJJ competitor or now more of an influencer? 🤳 

The answer is - it doesn’t really matter, he can obviously do whatever the hell he wants and he’s killing it however you measure it.

He’s brought many more eyes to the sport, achieved more than most can dream of and built himself a business that will likely march on longer than any athlete’s competitive career could 🔥.

However, the reason you started following him might be pretty different to the reason you continue (…or discontinue?) following him soon though - as I think we are on the verge of seeing fewer ADCC-silver medals and much more trolling, TRT-sponsored ads and very off-topic interviews 😂 

3.) Saved & Ruined All At Once 💣

How can something that makes people want to shout ‘this saved my life!’ also be something that literally destroys your body? 🤔 

Welcome. To. Jiu Jitsu.

If you’ve been in the sport for anything over 6 months, you’ve probably had a moment where you’ve thought - ‘this might just be the coolest thing ever!?’ 😁

And if you’ve been in the sport for anything over 12 months, you’ve probably had a moment where you’ve thought - ‘has my knee/elbow/shoulder always hurt so bad!?’ 😣 

It’s a tale as old as jiu-jitsu itself ⏰ - and it’s a tale that’s told exceptionally well by Dorian in the clip below 👇

Dorian, now approaching 40, is an average guy who fell in love with BJJ - but not so much with the damage it does to the body. He gives an excellent no-holds-barred account of his time on the mats - showcasing the good, the bad and the ugly as he has experienced it.

The clip has resonated with many in the BJJ community, gathering over 1 million views so far 🤯, and is a great insight into some of the challenges many of us will deal with - and some questions we may want to ask ourselves as time goes on.

Give it a watch ⬆️ - and remember to keep up your strength training, mobility and ‘tap early mentality’ to stay on the mats as long as you can ✅ 

Do Less. No, Wait, Do More:

The Good Option: Guard Be Gone! 🌬

Running into a really good guard player feels like falling into a spider web 🕷 Everywhere you go, you’re getting wrapped up, twisted, stuck, swept and submitted 😮‍💨 

Fear not! You can match this and beat them at their own game by levelling up your own guard passing! (…or just sit back for a footlock, but that’s for another day 😏)

The clip below is an excellent mash-up of some of the best guard passing concepts, ideas and techniques from none other than John Danaher, Gordon Ryan, Lachalan Giles and Brandon McCaghren 🤯 

Put together by the Less Impressed More Involved BJJ channel grab a cuppa ☕️ and notepad 📝 👇

The Not-So-Good Option: Don’t Sleep On Silly String 🎊 

When it comes to martial arts for self-defence - no one talks about silly string 🙅‍♂️

Maybe it’s because it’s the stupidest idea ever and no one would surely ever believe that someone would actually ‘train’ this??

Or maaaybe it’s because it’s just far too dangerous and effective - and no one wants to admit that all other martial arts would collapse in the face of a violent silly string attack? 🧐 

Nope. This is ridiculous. The world’s crazy👇

The Meme Open Mat:

Hoping some of you still remember what Windows XP even is 👇 …

You like memes huh!? 😎 (of course you do).

Well, we have bucketloads 🪣  of premium, high-grade OG memes for you to share with your BJJ crew, or simply peruse at your leisure (instead of replying to those pressing work emails that you probably should be replying to 😬)

👇

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But they just haven’t seen it yet! 👀 

Maybe you can help them (and us 😏) by sharing this edition and letting them know about it??

Just click the button below to help us spread the good news - we will even give you heaps of cool sh*t to say thanks ⬇️