Craig Jones implies assault and abuse from Gordon Ryan and John Danaher caused DDS split as online beef heats up
Craig Jones has shared a strong response to Gordon Ryan's recent comments about the Australian being a master manipulator behind closed doors. Jones has been blamed by 'The King' as the reason the famous Danaher Death Squad (DDS), featuring himself and Ryan, split up in 2021.
The DDS was headed by John Danaher, and following the split, he and Ryan went one way. Whilst Jones and several other members, including Nicky Ryan, the younger brother of Gordon, created their own team known as the B-Team.
With an informal agreement from both sides not to discuss the reasons leading to their fallout in 2021, it seems that tensions have boiled over as both Ryan and Jones recently shed light on the saga.
Following Ryan's comments, the Australian took to his Instagram story to share a stunning revelation. His response was posted to X by @jiujitsuotter, where Jones said:
"Jake Shields' podcast with Gordon [Ryan] is f*cking rock solid. Obviously nothing but the truth... B-Team formed because John was just training us too hard, not because he was slapping the sh*t out of people, not because of the abuse Gordon was doing to people along with his partner. All those things [went] straight over their heads, me and Jake Shields had a f*cking long conversation about this when the team broke up."
Watch Craig Jones' comments below:
Craig Jones mocks ADCC organizer Mo Jassim
In 2024, Craig Jones went head-to-head with the biggest no-gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition in the world, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships.
Jones stated that the lack of financial compensation for competing at ADCC 2024 led to him creating his own no-gi competition, the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI).
Both tournaments were held on the same weekend, Aug. 17-18. Given the $1 million prize money for winning the CJI compared to ADCC's $10,000 prize money, many elite BJJ athletes jumped ship to compete at Jones' newly founded tournament.
The success of the CJI was undeniable, with its smaller arena having sold-out compared to ADCC's massive 20,000 capacity at the T-Mobile arena, which did not appear sold out.
Head organizer for ADCC, Mo Jassim, has now shared the changes he would make if he is in charge of the 2026 edition of ADCC. Several of his ideas appeared to resemble Jones' approach for the CJI, causing the Australian to mock Jassim on Instagram.
He wrote:
"What a genius, where does he get these ideas."
See Craig Jones' post below: