Craig Jones visits Romanian witches to help “cure” Gordon Ryan’s health issues: “Doctors can’t treat what he has”
Craig Jones and Gordon Ryan were once teammates, and both formed part of the Danaher Death Squad (DDS). The team was headed up by Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) coach and expert, John Danaher, who brought together a group of immensely talented grapplers that helped take over BJJ in the mid 2010s.
But over the recent years, the team has split, with Ryan and several others opening New Wave gym in Austin, Texas alongside Danaher. While Jones opened up B-Team, a gym with several other members of the DDS, also in Austin, Texas.
The beef between 'The King' and his former teammate is well-known, with the pair having traded words online on numerous occasions.
Ryan has suffered from health issues related to his digestive system for several years, which temporarily made him retire from BJJ in 2022, at 26 years old. He was once again forced to the sidelines for most of 2024, but announced a return to competition on June 20.
Given his health issues, Jones requested the help of several Romanian witches whilst on a trip in the region. He uploaded footage of his trip to YouTube, and said this:
"My friend is very sick. Doctors can't treat what he has. Would we be able to do something to him to lift this illness?"
Watch Craig Jones' visit to Romanian witches below (8:48):
Can Gordon Ryan compete at The Craig Jones Invitational? The Australian answers
The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) is BJJ's most recently created submission grappling tournament, and has turned the heads of many of the world's best grapplers.
The CJI will go head-to-head with the most prestigious no-gi BJJ tournament worldwide, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, which happens every two years.
The event's latest edition will take place on Aug. 17-18 2024, while The CJI will take place on Aug, 16-17.
Jones, a former 2x ADCC silver medalist, recently announced he would not be competing at the upcoming edition. He chose to create his own tournament instead, with two weight categories - over and under 80 kilograms.
The CJI will have a first-place prize of $1 million, in comparison to ADCC's reported $10,000 purse for winning your division.
With Gordon Ryan the most accomplished ADCC athlete ever, Jones was recently asked if he'd let 'The King' compete at The CJI given their beef. He said this:
"I'd let anyone do it. Obviously I've got the custom-gold Craig Jones Invitational ring he'd have to kiss, but for sure I'd let him in."
Watch the interview below: