Keenan Cornelius recently took the time to drop in to B-Team Jiu-Jitsu and got some sparring in with the team’s fearless leader, Craig Jones. Cornelius isn’t the only one either, as the B-Team headquarters is quickly becoming a hotspot for elite grappling talent and athletes from all disciplines are converging there in order to teach and train with the guys in the squad. It’s not all that surprising either considering that the B-Team headquarters is home to a whole host of top-tier competitors and the wide range of styles available to train with must be a big selling point to travelling athletes.
What is a little surprising though, is that Keenan Cornelius specifically would choose to travel down from Legion Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego in order to get some solid sparring rounds in with Craig Jones. The pair have been rivals in the past and have actually competed against one another on two different occasions but in fairness, there has never been any animosity and their rivalry seems to be a friendly one. Really it’s hard to imagine anyone having a heated rivalry with Jones anyway, as he’s definitely one of the most likable figures in all of Jiu-Jitsu.
The pair first crossed paths on the competitive mats in the semi-finals of ADCC 2017 where Cornelius put on a clinic against Jones and racked up thirteen points to none during their match, knocking him out of the 88kg division. It was only a year before they met once again at Polaris 8, this time weighing in at 93kg instead and with the promotion’s Light-Heavyweight title on the line. It was a much closer match this time around though and Jones managed to eke out a victory by winning a split-decision to bring their record to 1-1.
The footage of Keenan Cornelius sparring with Craig Jones was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Jones’ gym, B-Team Jiu-Jitsu:
