Craig Jones has claimed second place at the Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) today, falling short in the final in a closely fought match against defending champion Gordan Ryan.
Taking place in Austin, Texas, EBI 14 featured a 16-man open weight tournament.
Training out of Absolute MMA in Melbourne, Jones quickly submitted his first three opponents on his way to the final – all by heel hook.
In his first match, Jones defeated Andy Burke in under 15 seconds.
Oh my! Craig Jones is wasting no time at #EBI14! Gets the win in less than 15 seconds! pic.twitter.com/A1l3OCc2f7
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) December 4, 2017
His next two matches didn’t go much longer, with Jones submitting his quarter-final and semi-final opponents in 45 seconds and 34 seconds respectively.
On the other side of the bracket, defending EBI absolute champion and ADCC 2017 gold medallist Gordan Ryan took a bit longer to submit his opponents.
He dispatched his first two opponents with relative ease, catching an outside heel-hook and an armbar in the later half of regulation time.
The overtime round was required before Ryan could submit Casey Hellenberg – with a rear naked choke.
The final between Jones and Ryan went down to the wire as neither competitor could submit the other inside the first 10 minutes of regulation time.
Both tried and failed to isolate each other’s legs to secure a submission, Ryan did however briefly look dangerous as he secured a kimura trap on Jones before he quickly escaped.
The second overtime round saw Jones secure a deep arm-bar on the defending champion that appeared to have Ryan in a lot of trouble.
The crowd erupted as Jones wrenched on Ryan’s arm but he withstood the pain and refused to tap before eventually escaping.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcRJW8mBBtR/?taken-by=kit_dale_official
It was then Ryan’s opportunity to secure the back of Jones in the next overtime round.
Ryan quickly secured a body triangle on Jones before he sunk in a rear naked choke to claim his 4th EBI title.
The second place at EBI caps of a stellar year for Jones who burst onto the professional jiu-jitsu scene earlier in the year at the EBI welterweight tournament.
He solidified himself as one of the best grapplers in the world when he reached the semi-finals of the ADCC World Championships in September and has continued to impress ever since.
EBI 14 THE ABSOLUTES FULL-RESULTS
Round 1:
Gordon Ryan defeated Dan Borovic by outside heel-hook
Patrick Donabedian defeated Daniel O’Brien by outside heel-hook
Casey Hellenberg defeated Karen Darabedyan by triangle-armbar
Chesseray Childrey defeated Adam Sachnof by kimura
Andrew Kimler defeated Rustam Chsiev in over-time
Aaron Johnson defetaed Matt Kirchwhem in over-time
Marcel Goncalves defeated Travis Moore by one handed RNC
Craig Jones defeated Andy Burke by inside heel-hook
Quarter Finals:
Gordon Ryan defeated Patrick Donabedian by armbar
Casey Hellenberg defeated Chesseray Childrey by armbar
Aaron Johnson defeated Andrew Kimler by armbar
Craig Jones defeated Marcel Goncalves by inside heel-hook
Semi Finals:
Gordon Ryan defeated Casey Hellenberg in over-time
Craig Jones defeated Aaron Johnson by inside heel-hook
Final:
Gordon Ryan defeated Craig Jones in over-time.
