# B Team > Austin, United States ## Overview **Name:** B Team **Description:** B-Team Jiu-Jitsu is an elite submission grappling team and gym located in Austin, Texas, founded by ADCC silver medalist Craig Jones. The team was formed in 2021 after a split from John Danaher's Danaher Death Squad and quickly established itself as one of the top grappling organizations in the world. The B-Team's founding members include some of the most talented grapplers to ever compete: Craig Jones, Nicky Ryan, Nick Rodriguez (Nicky Rod), Izaak Michell, and Ethan Crelinsten. These world-class athletes started this organization to offer the most up-to-date representation of modern grappling techniques and competition strategy. The team's motto "When you can't train with the A team, you get the B Team" reflects their unique approach and competitive spirit. B-Team Jiu-Jitsu is known for its high-level instruction and focus on competition training. The gym features experienced black belt instructors including Craig Jones, Nicky Ryan, Nick Rodriguez, Ethan Crelinsten, Vince Barbosa, Dima Murovanni, and Haisam Rida. The training philosophy emphasizes strength, discipline, and confidence while pushing the boundaries of modern submission grappling. Note that the gym does not train white belts, focusing exclusively on experienced practitioners. **Status:** Active ## Contact Information **Address:** 1701 W. Ben White Blvd, Ste 163 Austin, KY 78704, United States **Email:** info@bteamjj.com **Website:** https://bteamjj.com **Social Media:** - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bteamjj/ - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BTeamJiuJitsu ## Instructors ### Craig Jones - Black **Role:** Head Instructor **Bio:** Craig Jones was born on July 17, 1991, in Adelaide, South Australia. Growing up Jones was a very active kid, playing a variety of intensive sports such as Australian rules football and basketball while also briefly training in taekwondo and judo. His interest in rough playing activities was a sign of Craig’s frame of mind, as a teenager turned to mixed martial arts (MMA) and by the time of his 15th birthday dreamt of becoming an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter. With the UFC in his sight, Craig joined his cousin Matt Jones’ BJJ academy (2006), a gym called ISOHEALTH. It was under Matt’s guidance that Craig started making a name for himself in Australia’s national grappling circuit, before joining the Maromba Academy in Melbourne (later named Absolute MMA), as a purple belt, where his tuition was then picked up by Lachlan Giles. In December 2015, after an epic performance at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championships, Jones earned his brown belt. It was also around this time that Craig became a regular BJJ instructor. One year later Lachlan Giles promoted Craig to black belt. Jones also worked extensively with John Danaher in New York City, at team Renzo Gracie, where he became one of the well-known coach’s most prominent students on the competitive scene. While climbing the ranks of jiu-jitsu, competing regularly nationally and internationally, Craig Jones also managed to graduate with a degree in Behavioural Science (Psychology). DANAHER DEATH SQUAD BREAK-UP In July 2021, coach John Danaher announced the end of the Danaher Death Squad as a unified training and competition team, alluding to “ the physical location of a future school, personality conflicts, conflicting values and an inevitable tension between the team brand and the growing individual brands of members ” as the main factors for the split ( original statement here ). Later that year, during the Summer months, Craig Jones announced his new team, one formed alongside a few of his DDS training partners, namely Nicky Ryan, Ethan Crelinsten, and Nicky Rodriguez. This new group was labeled the “B-Team” with its training base being set in Austin, Texas. Craig Jones Heel Hook Technique ### Ethan Crelinsten - Black **Role:** Instructor **Bio:** Ethan Crelinsten was born on May 14, 1994, in Montreal, Canada, where he spent his formative years. A late bloomer to sports, Crelinsten was not a sporty child growing up, with his first contact with a competitive activity coming at the age of 19, through mixed martial arts (MMA), a decision taken by the influence of the growing popularity cage fighting experienced in Canada at the time. During his first experience at a small, local gym, Ethan’s training was solely focused on striking and wrestling, and it was only when he made the move to the larger TriStar gym, that Crelinsten added jiu-jitsu to his weekly activities, under the gym’s leader – Firas Zahabi. With time, Ethan started enjoying jiu-jitsu more than he did MMA, a sentiment that led him to switch gears and focus all his efforts solely on submission grappling. The link with the Renzo Gracie Academy and John Danaher’s workgroup came from Tom Breese, a TriStar fighter who brought in one of Danaher’s star pupils, Gordon Ryan, to TriStar for a fight camp. The superior technical ability of Ryan led Ethan to the source, in New York. With Crelinsten’s continuous success on the mats, the Canadian quickly became part of the Danaher Death Squad elite group of grapplers, although all belts – from white to brown, were awarded by Zahabi, who continued to tutor Ethan in partnership with Danaher. In November 2020, Ethan was awarded his black belt by coach John Danaher, the same day as teammate Nicky Ryan. THE END OF DDS AND START OF B-TEAM In July 2021, coach John Danaher announced the end of the Danaher Death Squad as a unified training and competition team, alluding to “ the physical location of a future school, personality conflicts, conflicting values and an inevitable tension between the team brand and the growing individual brands of members ” as the main factors for the split ( original statement here ). Later that year, during the Summer months, Ethan, Craig Jones, and Nicky Rodriguez announced their new team. This new group was labeled the “B-Team” with its training base being set in Austin, Texas. Ethan Crelinsten vs Keith Krikorian ### Izaak Michell - Black **Role:** Instructor **Bio:** Izaak Michell was born on August 25, 1998, in Adelaide, South Australia’s largest city, where he spent his childhood. Very active as a child, Izaak practiced a variety of sports from a young age but was mostly focused on Surfing and Skateboarding, two activities in which he competed regularly growing up. Also, a part of Michell’s weekly practices from the ages of 8-11 was gymnastics. Izaak played at a national level, earning 2 silver medals in Australia’s national gymnastics tournament at the time. Another game that was present during Izaak formative years was Australian Football or Aussie Rules Football, commonly known as the AFL, a sport that is – in broad terms – a mix of rugby with soccer (football) rules where they maintained much of the tackling and ball carrying that is seen in rugby with points being scored with the feet like in soccer. Submerged in sporting culture, Izaak was equally drawn to the idea of fighting and combat sports. This curiosity led him to a self-defense & kickboxing gym at the age of 15, though this first experience was short-lived due to the lack of sparring. Izaak Michell returned to martial arts training in 2016 at the Arruda BJJ gym where he trained mostly Muay Thay and joined in on the BJJ class on occasion. With time, however, around the 1-year mark of his training, it became evident that he was naturally gifted in Jiu-Jitsu and he decided to invest all his efforts into this activity. Coach Leo Arruda was Izaak’s instructor from white to purple belt, but during the middle of 2019, Michell moved to New York City and started training under John Danaher . One of Danaher’s senior students at the time of Michell joining the NYC workgroup was fellow Aussie, Craig Jones , an athlete with whom Michell connected very well at the time. This friendship led Izaak to follow Jones out of Danaher’s squad when he decided to form his workgroup (B-Team) with a few other students of John. In November 2022, two weeks before IBJJF World No-Gi Championship Craig Jones promoted Izaak to the brown belt rank, but a few months later, in early 2023 Izaak Michell & B-Team severed ties, with the young Aussie athlete spending some time unaffiliated. ### Nick Rodriguez - Black **Role:** Instructor **Bio:** Nick Rodriguez was born in August 1996, in Clayton, New Jersey, United States. Raised in NJ, a strong wrestling state led Rodriguez to the mats at the age of 12. Competing for Clayton High School’s team Nicky qualified for the NJSIAA championships as a senior. After HS Rod caught the attention of Ferrum College, who brought Rodriguez to their wrestling program in the state of Virginia. Rodrigues spent 1-year training at Ferrum and competing for the Division III college wrestling team where he went 34-7 and placed fourth at the East Regionals, albeit, failing to qualify for the NCAA tournament. After his experience with collegiate wrestling, Nick opted to pursue a modeling career while adding jiu-jitsu classes to his daily activities, a discipline he initiated in June 2018 with instructor Jay Regalbuto, at South Jersey BJJ. Regalbuto immediately realized Rodriguez’s potential for submission-grappling, launching Nicky into the competitive side of the sport after a mere 3 weeks of training. Jay’s intuition proved right as the former wrestler conquered two pro-level tournaments in two months while holding on to an undefeated record. After such a promising start, making a run for the upcoming ADCC USA East Coast Trials became a chance worth taking. To improve and test the talented jiu-jitsu rookie, Rodriguez, and coach Regalbuto started attending different workgroups, which ultimately led them to Gordon Ryan , arguably the best no-gi competitor in the world. Rodriguez’s first private lesson with Ryan took place in October 2018. Coach Regalbuto’s initial plan relied on Gordon also recognizing Nicky Rod’s potential and inviting him to Danaher Death Squad’s training room. The idea proved successful as Nick started visiting DDS in New York twice per week in the build-up to the ADCC Trials, taking bronze in the tournament 1 month later, with about 6 months of training. Coach Jay promoted the Jersey native to blue belt while he stood on the podium. Rodriguez made another run at the trials a few months later in California, this time earning his ticket to the main event. In September 2019, Nick Rodriguez competed at the ADCC World Championships, one of the toughest competitions in the no-gi jiu-jitsu world, where he beat several world-class black belts on his way to a silver medal and subsequent purple belt promotion, (also while standing on the podium,) from coach Jay Regalbuto. After his ADCC experience, Rodriguez started training full-time with coach John Danaher , both in New York and later in Puerto Rico, when the team relocated to the US-owned Caribbean island. Once the team split, in 2021, Rodriguez helped form B-Team (check more on that below). In December 2023, Nick Rodriguez was promoted to black belt by his teammate and co-founder of B-Team, Craig Jones. SPLIT FROM DANAHER DEATH SQUAD In July 2021, coach John Danaher announced the end of the Danaher Death Squad as a unified training and competition team, alluding to “ the physical location of a future school, personality conflicts, conflicting values and an inevitable tension between the team brand and the growing individual brands of members ” as the main factors for the split ( original statement here ). Later that year, in August 2021, Nicky announced his new team, one formed alongside a few of his DDS training partners, namely Nicky Ryan, Craig Jones, and Ethan Crelinsten. This new group was labeled the “B-Team” with its training base being set in Austin, Texas. NOTE REGARDING NICKY ROD’S RECORD Traditionally BJJ Heroes has only accounted for adult black belt records as they signify an athlete’s entry into our sport’s elite ranks. Nick Rodriguez, however, is a special case as he’s been competing in the pro-grappling circuit since he was a white belt. This has left BJJ Heroes with a delicate predicament of defining when to start accounting for his match records. Considering the level of opposition and the extensive list of professional athletes Nicky Rod overcame from early on in his career, we believed it would be beneficial to have his matches in the pro-circuit included on his profile, prior to his black belt promotion. ### Nicky Ryan - Black **Role:** Instructor **Bio:** Nicky Ryan, born June 27, 2001, in New Jersey, United States, is a highly acclaimed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and a prominent figure in the no-gi grappling scene. Influenced by his older brother, Gordon Ryan, Nicky began his jiu-jitsu journey at age eight. After an initial period of sporadic training, he fully committed to the sport in 2015, quickly emerging as a prodigy under the guidance of coach John Danaher. His early adoption of advanced techniques, including heel hooks, allowed him to dominate adult tournaments at just 13 years old, rapidly building a reputation for his exceptional talent. Ryan's competitive career saw a significant leap forward when he placed 3rd at the 2016 ADCC East Coast Trials at only 15 years old, a feat he repeated the following year. These performances earned him an invitation to the 2017 ADCC World Championships, where, at 16, he made history as the youngest athlete to ever compete in the prestigious event. He received his purple belt on June 21, 2017, brown belt on October 9, 2019, and was promoted to black belt on November 3, 2020, marking his official entry into the elite ranks of professional grappling. --- **Last Updated:** March 18, 2026 **Data Source:** BJJ.Space (https://bjj.space/gyms/united-states/kentucky/austin/b-team)