BJJ star Craig Jones was 5 minutes away from 4,000 Kg missile blast at Kyiv, Ukraine

Five minutes from his hotel, Craig Jones displays the impact hole left by a 4000 kg missile that struck Kiev, Ukraine

BJJ star Craig Jones was 5 minutes away from 4,000 Kg missile blast at Kyiv, Ukraine

Craig Jones shows the impact crater of a missile that hit Kiev (via MMA Mania/The business Standard)

The Ukraine-Russia conflict has had major implications globally. The MMA world is no exception to it. Grappling phenom Craig Jones had a brush with danger in Kyiv, Ukraine. A 4,000 kg ballistic missile struck just five minutes from his hotel. 

Jones is a BJJ black belt. He was in the Ukrainian capital to host a jiu-jitsu seminar. He documented the harrowing incident after arriving from a prior seminar in Warsaw. Footage showed Jones at the blast crater site shortly after the strike. He marveled at the missile’s staggering size and force of impact. This is what he said in the video:

Here I’m holding part of the missile. 4000-kilo missile that f—king hit five minutes from my hotel. Actually was shot down this morning..... Obviously, things are tense out here, but the air siren goes off, the missile gets shot down, everyone goes back to work afterward. The world doesn’t just stop.
Craig Jones via Instagram
YouTube video

Jones noted the resilience of Ukrainians despite the clear danger. He witnessed civilians quickly resuming their daily routines after the air raid siren. The harrowing missile incident didn’t deter 250 attendees from Jones’ seminar later. All proceeds from the event will go to Ukrainian soldiers who train in Jiu-jitsu.

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The Australian star seemed to take the whole situation in stride. His calm recounting provided a gripping firsthand account of life amid conflict. Jones drew praise for using his platform to support Ukraine’s resistance. But the jiu-jitsu maverick likely never expected to find himself that close to danger.

Craig Jones blamed Khabib Nurmagomedov for the beef between Sambo and Jiu-Jitsu

The long-simmering rivalry between Sambo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has a new instigator, per Craig Jones. The BJJ expert claimed Khabib Nurmagomedov ignited the grappling arts’ beef. Jones repeatedly mocked Sambo, a Russian martial art made famous by Nurmagomedov. But the Australian grappling star said he was merely responding to original taunts.

Craig Jones blames Khabib Nurmagomedov for starting the beef between BJJ and Sambo
Craig Jones blames Khabib Nurmagomedov for starting the beef (via YouTube/MMA Mania)

Jones pointed to a specific incident where Nurmagomedov stoked the Sambo vs BJJ flames. It occurred at UFC weigh-ins in Brazil several years ago. He pointed out the T-shirt Nurmagomedov wore that said, ‘If Sambo was easy, it would be called Jiu-jitsu.’ It was seen as disrespecting BJJ’s origins in the MMA hotbed nation.

Since then, Jones routinely downplayed Sambo’s effectiveness compared to BJJ. He even claimed a Sambo demise could follow if his pupil Alexander Volkanovski had defeated Islam Makhachev. Jones repeatedly cracked jokes about having to watch for vengeful Sambo practitioners. But he insisted it was merely playful banter between the two grappling disciplines.

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