Drugged In Colombia, Escaping Jail & Defeating UFC Wrestling - Craig Jones
Here are the top 10 key takeaways from Craig Jones's wild journey through combat sports, international adventures, and building a grappling empire while navigating everything from tribal ceremonies to cartel territories.
1. Building charity schools to counter drug trade effects
Craig Jones has partnered with the Guardian program to establish jiu-jitsu schools in impoverished areas where drug trade flourishes. These facilities serve children in Peru and Ethiopia who might otherwise turn to selling drugs for survival. The schools provide clean drinking water, English lessons, food, and most importantly, discipline through martial arts training.
The initiative represents what Jones calls "karmic retribution" for his wild lifestyle. He acknowledges the irony of building schools to help kids avoid drugs while admitting to his own recreational use. The project aims to give children alternative pathways and opportunities in regions where poverty creates few options for advancement.
In Ethiopia specifically, Jones witnessed children who had escaped tribal abduction and were living on the streets. These kids faced dangers from both police corruption and hyenas that roam the capital city at night. The jiu-jitsu academy provides them with a safe space during dangerous hours and teaches valuable life skills alongside physical training.
2. Professional wrestling theatrics can revolutionize grappling entertainment
Jones believes that borrowing elements from professional wrestling and Japanese MMA promotions like Pride can transform jiu-jitsu into mainstream entertainment. He points to WWE as proof that even fake grappling can captivate massive audiences when proper storytelling and production values are applied. The key lies in creating compelling narratives and rivalries that make audiences emotionally invested in outcomes.
His approach with CGI involves building storylines around team rivalries and personal conflicts. The first event succeeded partly because it created a clear division between CGI and ADCC supporters. Jones argues that any sport becomes exciting when there are clear sides to choose from and personal stakes involved.
The production elements matter as much as the competition itself. Jones emphasizes the importance of entrances, commentary that explains technical aspects to newcomers, and rule modifications that encourage action. He's specifically adapting the Quintet format with team-based competition and "last man standing" dynamics to create more engaging viewing experiences.
3. Exclusive contracts threaten athlete leverage and sport diversity
Jones warns that large organizations attempting to monopolize grappling through exclusive contracts will ultimately harm athletes and the sport's development. When companies like Flow Grappling lock athletes into exclusive deals, it eliminates their ability to negotiate better terms or participate in competing events. This creates a dangerous precedent where corporations control athlete careers entirely.
The concern extends beyond just athlete pay to innovation and competition quality. Jones argues that monopolies reduce incentives for promoters to improve events or push creative boundaries. Without competition between promotions, there's less pressure to offer better production values, more exciting rule sets, or improved athlete treatment.
His solution involves maintaining CGI as a free-to-view alternative that welcomes athletes from all organizations. By refusing to demand exclusive contracts, Jones hopes to preserve a competitive marketplace where athletes retain bargaining power and fans benefit from multiple high-quality events throughout the year.
4. Scopolamine drugging reveals travel dangers in party destinations
Jones recounts being drugged with scopolamine, known as "devil's breath," during a night out in Medellín, Colombia. This substance is particularly insidious because it incapacitates victims while leaving their memory of numbers and banking details intact, making it perfect for robbery. Jones believes he inadvertently consumed a dose meant for his assistant Seth when he drank both their shots.
The drug's effects were severe enough that Seth had to carry Jones home despite his own neck injury from recent stem cell treatments. Security footage later revealed Jones could still enter door codes despite being completely incapacitated otherwise. This demonstrates how scopolamine specifically targets motor functions while preserving certain cognitive abilities.
The incident highlights broader safety concerns for travelers in certain destinations, particularly those with active nightlife scenes. Jones notes that while the drug's reputation may be somewhat exaggerated and used as an excuse for poor decisions, genuine cases do occur and can be life-threatening. The experience reinforced the importance of staying vigilant even in seemingly safe tourist areas.
5. Wrestling dominance in MMA has tactical limitations
Jones argues that wrestling's effectiveness in MMA stems from fighters' fear of being taken down rather than wrestlers' ground superiority. He believes that once fights hit the mat, wrestlers often lack the technical knowledge to maintain dominance or finish fights effectively. Their training focuses heavily on takedowns and pins rather than submissions or ground transitions.
His coaching philosophy with fighters like Alexander Volkanovski and Jack Della Maddalena involves building confidence in their ground game. When fighters aren't afraid of being taken down, they can commit fully to striking without hesitation. This mental shift often proves more valuable than extensive technical drilling.
The success of Australian fighters against traditionally strong wrestlers supports his theory. Jones suggests that wrestling's reputation creates psychological advantages that disappear once opponents demonstrate competent defensive grappling. He views the sport's obsession with wrestling credentials as somewhat misguided given the different demands of MMA ground fighting.
6. Remote tribal practices reveal extreme cultural differences
During his Ethiopian travels, Jones witnessed coming-of-age ceremonies involving dangerous bull-running tests for young men and severe whipping rituals for women. The women had to find branches and present them to men who would test their thickness before administering painful lashes. Showing any pain or reaction was considered failure, marking them as unprepared for adult responsibilities.
The ceremonies were designed to prove women could endure physical pain associated with sexual relations and childbirth. Some participants bore scars from previous ceremonies, indicating repeated participation. The gender imbalance was stark, with men performing relatively simple athletic feats while women endured systematic physical abuse.
Jones also learned about female genital mutilation practices in other tribes, where various implements including fingernails, glass, or scissors are used to remove sensitive tissue. These procedures are performed to eliminate sexual pleasure and encourage chastity. The scale and cultural entrenchment of these practices left Jones feeling helpless about making meaningful intervention or change.
7. Team-based competition creates more engaging grappling formats
The CGI 2 format adopts the Quintet team structure with significant modifications to increase excitement and unpredictability. Teams consist of five fighters across different weight divisions, but unlike traditional formats, the next competitor remains unknown until called by their coach. This creates dramatic moments and strategic decisions that keep audiences engaged.
The "last man standing" element means that smaller fighters surviving against larger opponents becomes genuinely exciting. When team victory depends on one person's survival, even defensive grappling becomes compelling television. Weight disparities that might seem unfair in individual competition become part of the strategic puzzle.
Jones has assembled eight teams including established gyms like Atos and New Wave alongside regional squads representing different continents. The wild card rule allows teams to recruit one outside member, which Jones exploited by securing Victor Hugo early in the process. This combination of authentic team rivalries and strategic additions promises more complex and interesting matchups than traditional tournament brackets.
8. Drug culture intersects dangerously with international travel
Jones's adventures across Colombia, Venezuela, and other destinations reveal how easily recreational drug use can become life-threatening in foreign countries. His ketamine experience with an Ethiopian goat herder demonstrates how substances affect people differently based on their cultural context and previous exposure. The herder's existential crisis led him to abandon his new job and return to traditional herding.
International drug laws vary dramatically, with countries like Dubai and Bali imposing severe penalties for possession. Jones notes how British tourists often maintain their homeland's relatively relaxed attitudes toward drug use while traveling to places with zero tolerance policies. This cultural disconnect has led to numerous arrests and lengthy prison sentences for travelers.
The intersection of drug culture with tourism creates additional risks beyond legal consequences. In places like Brazilian favelas or Colombian cities, drug availability often comes with territorial dangers and criminal connections. Jones's experiences suggest that even legitimate tourism can quickly become complicated when substances are involved.
9. Coaching combat sports requires psychological expertise beyond technique
Working with UFC fighters has taught Jones that coaching extends far beyond technical instruction to psychological preparation and confidence building. In striking sports, the stakes include potential traumatic brain injury, which adds layers of anxiety that don't exist in pure grappling. Coaches must carefully balance realistic preparation with confidence building.
Many of Jones's cornering assignments involve fighters who primarily want to avoid using their grappling rather than showcase it. His role becomes providing assurance that if fights do hit the ground, his fighters can handle themselves and return to their preferred striking range. This psychological safety net allows them to strike more aggressively without fear.
The traumatic aspect of cornering involves witnessing serious injuries to people you care about. Jones describes the disturbing experience of seeing fighters unconscious for extended periods while cameras avoid showing the full extent of damage. This emotional toll makes him prefer grappling-only competition despite the lower profile and pay in that sport.
10. Extreme poverty requires different charitable approaches than typical development work
Jones's experiences in Ethiopia and Peru revealed poverty on a scale that challenges conventional charitable thinking. In Addis Ababa, he encountered children who had to form gangs for protection against both police corruption and literal hyenas prowling city streets. Traditional development models seem inadequate for such extreme circumstances.
The complexity of tribal cultures adds another layer of difficulty to charitable intervention. Jones witnessed practices he found abhorrent but felt powerless to address due to language barriers, cultural entrenchment, and armed resistance to outside interference. The scale of need across thousands of tribes within single countries makes individual intervention feel futile.
His approach focuses on creating small safe spaces within chaos rather than attempting systemic change. The jiu-jitsu schools provide immediate benefits like clean water, food, and safety without trying to transform entire cultural systems. Jones acknowledges this represents a pragmatic rather than idealistic approach to charity work in extremely challenging environments.