Sean Brady Defeats Craig Jones at Fury Grappling 3
Undefeated UFC fighter Sean Brady pulls off the upset in a decision victory over grappling phenom Craig Jones.
With the UFC taking a few weeks off before the new year, combat sports fans have been thirsty for some action. Fury Grappling 3 to the rescue. CFFC stacked a card up and down with names like Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Clay Guida, and Carla Esparza.
Fury Grappling 3 was a submission only ruleset, but heel hooks were excluded from the list of legal submissions in order to protect the UFC fighters from getting serious knee damage.
The much-anticipated bout between grappling phenom and heel hook specialist Craig Jones and #9 ranked UFC Welterweight Sean Brady brought a lot of attention to this card. John Morgan said, “Interesting tonight, heel hooks not legal in matches involving UFC fighters. That’s where the majority of his [Craig Jones] submissions come from… he is having one of his biggest weapons taken away tonight.”
The match began with a quick guard pull by Craig Jones. Jones can be very dangerous from this position because of his unique ability to enter into the legs. Although Jones was able to retain his guard for the full eight-minute match, he did not attack any serious submissions due to Brady’s strong base and aggressive guard passing attempts.
After winning via unanimous decision, Sean Brady states, “Craig is the best grappler in the world… I wanted to use my pressure, my top game.”
When Jones was asked if the match would’ve gone differently if heel hooks were legal, Jones said, “I mean, honestly, I don’t think the rule change affected me. I just think nothing fucking happened.
Sean Brady responds by saying, “I couldn’t pass his [Craig Jones] guard but I tried to control him, and I played to the rules, and I got the win.”
With almost 50% of Jones' submission victories being variations of the heel hook, it is very possible that Pro Grappling 3’s no heel-hook rule put Jones at a significant disadvantage. Nevertheless, Sean Brady did what he needed to get the victory over high level grappler Craig Jones.