Craig Ewers Academy team member Mason ‘the Dragon’ Jones becomes the latest Welshman to join the ranks of the UFC roster.
After securing both the Cage Warriors lightweight & welterweight world titles; a call up from the world’s leading MMA promotion seemed a formality; with the Dragon expected to make his debut in early 2021.
Photo Instagram @dollyclew
Cage Warriors 116; Mason Jones took his Professional record to 10-0 with a dominant 1st round stoppage of Adam Proctor to add the Welterweight belt to his Lightweight title & became only the third fighter to hold two World Championship belts consecutively in the Cage Warriors promotion.
Photo Instagram @dollyclew
With Europe rocked by the Covid-19 pandemic & the severity of the situation in London; CW 113 event was moved from the capital to Manchester.
With changes of location & opponent, the only thing that seemed certain was Mason Jones confidence & will to win; standing in opposition was the experienced Irish opponent Joe McColgan (6-1-2).
Mason bringing his trade mark forward pressure; ended the fight with a viscous knee in the clinch, to claim the vacant Cage Warriors Lightweight belt & his first World Championship.
Newport, South Wales, was the location for the latest edition of the Polaris Professional Jiu Jitsu event headlined by former UFC Champion Luke Rockhold.
Earlier in the card, Craig Ewers was taking on Liam Cann (Scramble Academy Leeds) in a 170lb match-up; both competitors were coming into the event following wins on their previous Polaris matches, Cann over UFC veteran Chris Fishgold at Polaris 11 & Ewers over Luiz Finnochio at Polaris 10.
Ewers was able to control both the pace & the positional play of the contest & secured a unanimous decision.
In front of a capacity crowd at Cardiff’s Viola arena; Craig Ewers Academy team member Mason Jones took his Pro MMA record to 8-0 with a dominant performance over Finnish opponent Aleksi Mantykivi (15-5).
Mantykivi was expected to provide a stern test for the Dragon; however Jones pushed the pace from the outset & dominated all areas of the fight to earn a unanimous decision & increase the pressure for a title shot in 2020.
Photo Credits: Insta @dollyclew
Polaris Pro 10 | Bournemouth | 25th May 2019
Craig Ewers wins via Submission (armlock) vs Luiz Finnochio
Fighting Films Judo Open | 26th May 2019
3rd Place – Brooke Hiscocks
Samurai Judo Interclub | 25th May 2019
2nd Place - Millie Mcgeown
3rd Place - Ruby Foster
3rd Place - Cerys Palmer
3rd Place - Taliesan Bevan
3rd Place - Ieuan Bevan
EJU Junior European Cup Lithuania | 11-12th May 2019
3rd Place – Jasmine Hacker-Jones (52kg)
Cage Warriors MMA 104 (Cardiff) – 27th April 2019
Pro Lightweight Bout: Mason Jones wins unanimous decision vs Donovan Desmae (Belgium)
White Collar MMA (Cardiff) – 27th April 2019
Amateur Lightweight Bout: Zaneta Dudzinska wins 1st round armbar.
Grappling Industries (Manchester) – 27th April 2019
Female/Adult/120lbs/Purple/Gi – Georgia Doe – 2nd Place
Female/Adult/120lbs/Advanced/NoGi – Georgia Doe -2nd Place
Male/Master/185lbs/Advanced/NoGi – Jamie Tungate – 3rd Place
Newport Judo Interclub – 27th April 2019
U12 Boys - Kayden Griffiths – 2nd Place
NAGA Grappling (Birmingham) – 13th April 2019
Male/Master/Expert/Middleweight/NoGi – Craig Ewers – 1st Place
Male/Adult/Beginner/Lightweight/NoGi – Ryan Collins – 2nd Place
Male/Children/Expert/NoGi – Lucas Biggs – 2nd Place
Male/Adult/Beginner/Absolute/Gi – Ryan Collins – 3rd Place
Male/Adult/Beginner/Lightweight/Gi – Ryan Collins – 3rd Place
Male/Children/Expert/Gi - Lucas Biggs – 3rd Place
EGH Judo Open (Pontypridd) – 13th April 2019
Female/u16/57kg – Cerys Palmer – 1st Place
Female/u16/o70kg – Isabelle Foster 1st Place
Female/u16/63kg – Ruby Foster – 3rd Place
Grappling Industries (Dublin) – 7th April 2019
Male/Adult/Advanced/NoGi/185lbs/NoGi – Josh Hudson 1st Place
Male/Master/Advanced/Absolute/NoGi – Jamie Tungate 1st Place
Male/Adult/Intermediate/170lbs/NoGi – Farhan Khan – 1st Place
Male/Master/Black Belt/170lbs/Gi – Craig Ewers – 2nd Place
Male/Adult/Purple Belt/185lbs/Gi – Josh Hudson – 2nd Place
Male/Master/Advanced/170lbs/NoGi – Craig Ewers – 2nd Place
Male/Master/Advanced/185lbs/NoGi – Jamie Tungate – 2nd Place
GRIP Grappling VI: Welsh Open Gi & NoGi 2/3rd March 2019
Academy Standings: 1st Place Craig Ewers Academy
Amazing performance across the board with a total of 24 Golds, 13 Silver & 9 Bronze to take 1st place on the academy standings!
Bristol Open 2019 – 31st March 2019
Male/Master/White/Middleweight – Ben Miles -1st Place
Male/Master/Blue/Heavyweight – Dave Saif – 2nd Place
Male/Master/Blue/Absolute – Dave Saif – 3rd Place
Female/Adult/Purple/Light Feather – Georgia Doe – 3rd Place
Female/Adult/Purple/Absolute – Georgia Doe – 2nd Place
BJJ All Stars Europeans – 23rd March 2019
Male/Adult/Beginner/Lightweight/NoGi - Ryan Collins – 3rd Place
Samurai Judo Club Open – 23rd March 2019
Ieuan Bevan – 1st Place
Taliesan Bevan – 3rd Place
Newport Open BJJ – Saturday 2nd February 2019
Male/Adult/Purple - Josh Hudson 1st Place
Female/Adult/Blue-Jasmine Jones – 1st Place
Male/Adult/Blue – Ieuan Mackenzie – 3rd Place
Male/Teen/Yellow-Lucas Biggs 1st Place
Female/Adult/White- Zaneta Dudzisnka – 1st Place
Male/Teens/White – Rhys Bowley 1st Place
Male/Master/White – Ben Miles – 1st Place
Male/Master/White/- Joseph Pearson – 3rd Place
Grappling Industries (London) – 13th January 2019
Female/Adult/Intermediate/135lbs/NoGi – Georgia Doe – 1st Place
Female/Adult/Absolute/NoGi – Georgia Doe – 2nd Place
Male/Master/Absolute/NoGi – Jamie Tungate – 3rd Place
Saturday the 7th July & the LC2 arena in Swansea; was the location for the latest BUDO FC Wales event.
Making his amateur MMA debut at just 17 years of age; Ieuan Mackenzie put on a strong display of grappling against his more experienced opponent; earning a unanimous decision from the BUDO FC judges.
Ieuan will be back in MMA action on November's BUDO card; where we hope to have a few more academy members also making their MMA debut's.
The IMMAF is the leading amateur governing body for the Sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA); between the 18-23rd June the best amateur MMA athletes descended upon Bucharest, Romania for the annual IMMAF European Championships.
Representing GBR in the welterweight category was Josh Hudson. In the round of 1/16 Josh put on a dominant performance stopping his Austrian opponent Aladdin Bosankic via TKO early in the second round.
In the round of 1/8 Josh faced Bozhidar Ivanov (Bulgaria); a measured performance saw Josh dominate all three rounds & a judge's decision to advance into the Semi-Finals.
In the semi-final Josh faced Isakov Issa (Belgium), the number 2 seeded athlete in the draw; in a tough contest Josh struggled to overcome the strong wrestling of the Belgium; & had to settle for a 3rd place finish.
A great first IMMAF outing for Josh; who qualifies with his medal to the World Championships in Bahrain in November; congratulations from everyone at the Academy!
