Craig Jones continued his grappling dominance at Karate Combat 45 in Dubai, stopping UFC welterweight Rinat Fakhretdinov with a nasty triangle. The 32-year-old jiu-jitsu black belt, who has won silver medals at two ADCC tournaments, made quick work of the promising UFC prospect.
Jones is renowned for his elite submission skills, training top MMA stars like former UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. He was looking to follow up his “flying off-the-wall triangle” finish earlier this year with another highlight-reel submission.
Matched against Fakhretdinov, who is 3-0-1 in the UFC’s stacked welterweight division, Jones found himself on the defensive early as the UFC star looked to utilize his strong top game. However, Jones soon took over, catching Fakhretdinov in a tight triangle.
Craig Jones broke down the sequence that led to him finishing UFC welterweight Rinat Fakhretdinov with a triangle choke at Karate Combat 45:
“It was over so fast, I don’t even have anything rolled up right now. That’s how quickly it lasted – a lot longer than I’ll be in the bedroom!” Jones joked about the brevity of the finish.
Jones explained that they had worked on securing that triangle choke position before the match. “We started looking at everyone reaching for the underhook on the far side, getting shoulder to shoulderposition,” he said.
“Once we secure that, if we’re lucky, they go to sleep a few times,” Jones continued, referring to how Fakhretdinov briefly went unconscious before Jones had to retighten the choke to get the tap.
While the whole sequence may have appeared bizarre to viewers, with Fakhretdinov temporarily recovering consciousness, Jones broke it down in typically technical fashion. His masterful triangle set-up and adjustment showcased why he is one of the most feared grapplers in combat sports today.
Jones’ coach must have been pleased with how they implemented the game plan they worked on Leading up to Karate Combat 45 in Dubai.
