As one of the gym’s four founding members, Craig Jones’ departure from the B-Team marks the end of an era.

And, while Jones steps away, his teammates will continue under a new identity, shifting toward an MMA-focused academy.

Jones admitted that opening B-Team was never part of his long-term plan:

In terms of the B-Team, I never really wanted to open that to begin with. It just ended up in a scenario where I felt like I needed…

There was bad blood in the team, I felt like I needed to sort’ve figurehead opening that gym, but my intention was never to build this B-Team empire or whatever.

It was kind of to help those boys kickstart an out for them.

With the Craig Jones Invitational taking him around the world and away from Austin, Jones felt it was time to pass the torch:

So really now it’s really just me, having not been around for so long, just passing the torch on to them.

But I think it was integral that like the B-Team brand ends because I think like my insane marketing and stuff like that sort of puts me at the forefront of a crew of guys who are more than capable of running the gym and doing the marketing aspect themselves.

He also admitted that his own presence might overshadow the individual accomplishments of his teammates:

I think just because I’m so focused on marketing and promoting that it like overshadows some of those individual identities and their accomplishments in the sport.

So really it was just the perfect time.
It was like, well, New Wave’s ending, New Wave’s becoming Kingsway and it was kind of like I’m never around – it’s probably time for these boys to make this transition.

Ultimately, Jones said he was never drawn to gym ownership in the first place:

Running a gym sucks, you know?
I guess it’s kind of all the worst parts of being a promoter as well.

It’s like you’re just managing relationships, and you’re having to enforce things.

It’s like people treat the gym like it’s their personal home and stuff like that, and then obviously there’s a lot of dramas that just naturally unfold at any gym and I really don’t want to be the one from afar to have to manage those things.

I feel like it should be the boots on the ground there that are like navigating those situations.

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