Craig Jones rolling with Josh Barnett

There are a couple of moments where Jones was just chilling in positions with his guard more of a suggestion than a real guard, but still keeping Barnett at bay with his legs. I would get crushed in that position and I have no idea what Jones was doing to still be in control.
 
Also, what's Josh's lineage: Judo, BJJ, catch? This reminded me of Sakuraba having trouble passing everyone's guard.
 
Also, what's Josh's lineage: Judo, BJJ, catch? This reminded me of Sakuraba having trouble passing everyone's guard.
His fighting style is really mma grappling.
He trained various things over the years and has represented pro wrestling in competitions and then rebranded to catch wrestling.
 
Props to Craig for his polished technique, his butterfly sweep is crazy, because you can see the set up a mile away and he effortlessly executed because of timing.

I also love Josh’s style because you can clearly see, he’s not doing straight BJJ but incorporates Paulson’s influence from catch.
 
Props to Craig for his polished technique, his butterfly sweep is crazy, because you can see the set up a mile away and he effortlessly executed because of timing.

I also love Josh’s style because you can clearly see, he’s not doing straight BJJ but incorporates Paulson’s influence from catch.
If he didn't wear the shoes or brand himself as a catch wrestler I wouldn't think he does anything that unique for a heavyweight grappler.
 
If he didn't wear the shoes or brand himself as a catch wrestler I wouldn't think he does anything that unique for a heavyweight grappler.

The scarf choke he applied to Lister wasn’t exactly everyday jiu jitsu, not back then. You could probably find it in a 1930 jujitsu text book but it wasn’t something you saw Saulo bust out.

Barnett’s kneebar against Ryron was also “Catchy” in feel as I don’t know how prevelant Danaher’s system was at the time, unlike now where leg subs are the game. Nobody is saying Barnett hasn’t studied BJJ his whole life, but even his takedown of Ryron was un-bjj like, the tie-up/spin.

Everyone knows everyone cross trains, but you can see Josh’s thinking and approach wasn’t classical BJJ, Ralej even said “He doesn’t react like a BJJ guy” so he’ll be tricky for Ryron.

I get it, the shoes throws people off. but Josh is more catch oriented than simply looking the part.
 
Started out with Matt Hume and has been training with Erik Paulson (rigan machado bb) for a very long time

I thought I remembered some Judo in his background, so I looked it up and according to wiki he started with a bit of high school wrestling and a lot of judo in his late teens / early twenties. I'm having trouble finding any information on his training after that, but I seem to remember when he first popped up in the UFC he was labelled as a BJJ guy.

Does anyone have more details on when he went to Hume's and how long he trained there? Or any info on his background in general?
 
The scarf choke he applied to Lister wasn’t exactly everyday jiu jitsu, not back then. You could probably find it in a 1930 jujitsu text book but it wasn’t something you saw Saulo bust out.

Barnett’s kneebar against Ryron was also “Catchy” in feel as I don’t know how prevelant Danaher’s system was at the time, unlike now where leg subs are the game. Nobody is saying Barnett hasn’t studied BJJ his whole life, but even his takedown of Ryron was un-bjj like, the tie-up/spin.

Everyone knows everyone cross trains, but you can see Josh’s thinking and approach wasn’t classical BJJ, Ralej even said “He doesn’t react like a BJJ guy” so he’ll be tricky for Ryron.

I get it, the shoes throws people off. but Josh is more catch oriented than simply looking the part.

I didn't remember Josh grappling with Ryron at all! I'm sure I watched it at the time, but now it's completely forgotten. Unfortunately, I can't find it on youtube.
 
I didn't remember Josh grappling with Ryron at all! I'm sure I watched it at the time, but now it's completely forgotten. Unfortunately, I can't find it on youtube.

Josh beat Ryron with a toehold not a kneebar.

Video:


Josh also trained catch wrestling with Billy Robinson, the same guy who trained Sakuraba. Hume trained with catch guys in Japan. There isn't anything false about his catch wrestling lineage.
 
Josh beat Ryron with a toehold not a kneebar.

Video:


Josh also trained catch wrestling with Billy Robinson, the same guy who trained Sakuraba. Hume trained with catch guys in Japan. There isn't anything false about his catch wrestling lineage.


Thanks for the vid! Josh's style was just so different from what Ryron was used to -- he looked so good against Galvao, but here he just got mauled.

I'm definitely not questioning Josh's credentials and if it comes across that way I really screwed up what I was trying to say. I've always been fascinated by his training history and wish I could learn more about it. He's always struck me as someone who really embodies the ronin label -- and Erik Paulson is probably my favourite trainer in the world today. His DVDs are always the most useful DVDs I've ever seen.
 
The scarf choke he applied to Lister wasn’t exactly everyday jiu jitsu, not back then. You could probably find it in a 1930 jujitsu text book but it wasn’t something you saw Saulo bust out.

Barnett’s kneebar against Ryron was also “Catchy” in feel as I don’t know how prevelant Danaher’s system was at the time, unlike now where leg subs are the game. Nobody is saying Barnett hasn’t studied BJJ his whole life, but even his takedown of Ryron was un-bjj like, the tie-up/spin.

Everyone knows everyone cross trains, but you can see Josh’s thinking and approach wasn’t classical BJJ, Ralej even said “He doesn’t react like a BJJ guy” so he’ll be tricky for Ryron.

I get it, the shoes throws people off. but Josh is more catch oriented than simply looking the part.

I need to watch Ryron for two reasons. First, I don't remember the takedown, and second, I SWORE that was a toehold. I remember the position, it was like a full guard, but turned around. I started doing that after that match. Sometimes from knee on belly, just go for what you could call reverse mount for lack of a better term, then hide your feet behind them. Then, even if you get caught underneath them, your feet are hidden but theirs are exposed. It's a strong position.
 
This back mount escape looked (and sounded) brutal.




That was one of the things i noticed; Craig would look to attack the back several times, but Josh never looked like he was in any major trouble, and would always get to quarter and shuck him off. The detail of pulling one leg across and elbowing the other off is strait out of folkstyle escapes vs leg rides.
 
The scarf choke he applied to Lister wasn’t exactly everyday jiu jitsu, not back then. You could probably find it in a 1930 jujitsu text book but it wasn’t something you saw Saulo bust out.

Barnett’s kneebar against Ryron was also “Catchy” in feel as I don’t know how prevelant Danaher’s system was at the time, unlike now where leg subs are the game. Nobody is saying Barnett hasn’t studied BJJ his whole life, but even his takedown of Ryron was un-bjj like, the tie-up/spin.

Everyone knows everyone cross trains, but you can see Josh’s thinking and approach wasn’t classical BJJ, Ralej even said “He doesn’t react like a BJJ guy” so he’ll be tricky for Ryron.

I get it, the shoes throws people off. but Josh is more catch oriented than simply looking the part.
The inverted closed guard stuff was common before the Danaher craze.
It was seen a bit from 50/50 in the gi or done by Jeff Glover as donkey guard.
 
That was one of the things i noticed; Craig would look to attack the back several times, but Josh never looked like he was in any major trouble, and would always get to quarter and shuck him off. The detail of pulling one leg across and elbowing the other off is strait out of folkstyle escapes vs leg rides.

I do wonder how much if any discomfort Barnett was causing with his ankle torques. Rolling for a toehold (off of Craig's beautiful arm drag at 3:31) is what allowed Craig to take his back in the first place. And torqueing it to escape back mount audibly pops it in @EndlessCritic's post above. I've had little success attacking the ankles as a back mount escape (barring them crossing their legs) but seeing what Barnett is doing makes me want to start playing with that again.
 
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