Australian BJJ wizard Craig Jones set to take on UFC welterweight in upcoming grappling event
Craig Jones, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) coach of UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, is set to face welterweight Philip Rowe in a grappling event later this year.
Jones is regarded as one of the most innovative minds in BJJ right now and will provide Rowe with as tough a challenge as he could find in the submission grappling world.
The pair are scheduled to clash at the Pit Submission Series, an event hosted by parent company Karate Combat. The event will be hosted in Mexico City and is set to take place on Feb. 23.
Jones was previously scheduled to take on former UFC champion Luke Rockhold in a grappling match in Israel last year, but the conflict currently ongoing in the region put an end to the entire event.
In an Instagram post uploaded by Pit Submission Series, they wrote this:
"@pitsubmissionseries 2 | Mexico City: @craigjonesbjj vs @phillyfreshufc will be your #MainEvent on February 23! #MexicanGroundKarate."
See the post below:
It will not be the first time that Philip Rowe has competed against a high-level BJJ practitioner in a grappling tournament. He faced off against Craig Jones' former teammate and the greatest no-gi grappler of all time, Gordon Ryan, in a Who's Number One event in 2021.
Rowe lost the match via decision.
Craig Jones names the UFC fighter with some of the most impressive BJJ skills he's seen
Craig Jones is known in the MMA world mostly for his role as Alexander Volkanovski's BJJ coach. But the Australian grappler has worked with several UFC stars, including welterweight champion Leon Edwards.
Having won a silver medal twice at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, the world's most prestigious no-gi grappling event, Jones' skillset is undeniable.
It seems that one man in the UFC, above all, has impressed the Australian with his BJJ skills, none other than fan-favorite featherweight contender Diego Lopes.
Lopes burst onto the scene with a superb performance against Movsar Evloev, one of the division's top prospects, at UFC 288. The Brazilian-born Mexican took the fight on short notice and, despite losing, displayed some impressive BJJ skills, according to Jones.
In a YouTube video on his channel, the BJJ practitioner broke down Lopes' skillset, saying this:
"He came in against Movsar Evloev... I still to this day think [Lopes] won that fight, even though he was in bottom position. Some of the most impressive bottom-game jiu-jitsu I've ever seen. He even submitted Gavin Tucker in his previous fight, which is crazy 'cause obviouly Tucker is a fantastic grappler himself."
Listen to Craig Jones' comments below (22:35):