Lex Fridman Podcast

B-Team Jiu Jitsu: Craig Jones, Nicky Rod, and Nicky Ryan | Lex Fridman Podcast #363

Craig Jones, Nicky Rod and Nicky Ryan, together with Ethan Crelinsten are founders of the B-Team, a legendary jiu jitsu team based in Austin, TX. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex to get special savings - Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex to get 1 month of fish oil - BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off EPISODE LINKS: B-Team's Instagram: https://instagram.com/bteamjj/ B-Team's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/bteamjiujitsu B-Team's Website: https://bteamjj.com/ Craig Jones's Instagram: https://instagram.com/craigjonesbjj/ Nicky Rod's Instagram: https://instagram.com/nickyrod247/ Nicky Ryan's Instagram: https://instagram.com/nickyryanbjj/ Craig Jones's Instructionals: https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/craig-jones Nicky Rod's Instructionals: https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/instructional-videos/fighter_nick-rodriguez Nicky Ryan's Instructionals: https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/instructional-videos/fighter_nicky-ryan PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 2:21 - B-Team 7:57 - Winning and losing 15:43 - Danaher Death Squad (DDS) 33:13 - Nicky Rod vs Gordon Ryan 49:47 - Steroids 1:04:31 - White belts 1:12:40 - Alexander Volkanovski vs Islam Makhachev 1:32:15 - Greatest MMA fighter of all time 1:34:43 - Dagestani fighters 1:36:00 - Conor McGregor 1:38:39 - Strength training and injuries 1:51:03 - Pre-match ritual 1:57:34 - Toughest match 2:01:25 - Positional training 2:07:59 - Perfect training week 2:10:49 - Overtraining 2:13:08 - Advice for beginners 2:21:17 - Takedowns and submissions 2:26:55 - Ego 2:31:24 - Lion vs bear 2:36:15 - Street fights 2:38:17 - Money and friendship SOCIAL: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman

Lex FridmanhostCraig JonesguestNicky Rod (Nick Rodriguez)guest

Mar 5, 20232h 50mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

B-Team Jiu-Jitsu on Rivalries, Steroids, Winning, and Not Taking Life Seriously

Lex Fridman hosts Craig Jones, Nicky Rodriguez, and Nicky Ryan of Austin’s B-Team Jiu-Jitsu to talk about their origins, split from the Danaher Death Squad, competitive mindsets, and how they train. The conversation mixes serious technical and psychological insights with constant humor, self-deprecation, and trash talk—especially around their rivalry with Gordon Ryan and Dagestani fighters. They explore how to think about losing, pressure, steroids, injury, and business drama in a growing but still chaotic sport. Underneath the jokes is a clear philosophy: take the craft seriously, but not yourself.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Success in grappling comes from consistency, not just intensity.

All three emphasize showing up year after year, using practice to simulate competition, and accepting that skills build slowly over many seasons rather than via short bursts of extreme effort.

There’s no single “right” competition mindset—only what you can sustain.

Nicky Rod meticulously visualizes, routines his warmups, and leans into emotion; Craig deliberately avoids rituals, visualization, and overthinking to keep it light; Nicky Ryan struggles with fear of losing but recognizes he must compete more to grow.

Constraint-based training accelerates learning, especially for beginners.

Craig advocates presenting people with problems first (e.g., “hold side control with no instructions”), then layering in technique as solutions, arguing that problem-solving beats rote memorization for deep understanding.

Positional sparring from bad spots is critical for high-level development.

They repeatedly stress starting in mount, back, turtle, or leg entanglements to build real escapes and confidence, especially for advanced students who rarely end up in bad positions during normal rolling.

Steroids are widespread in no-gi but don’t replace skill or learning.

They half-joke, half-admit that many top athletes use “gear” for recovery and volume, but note that steroids can also make people over-rely on strength, gas out, or neglect technical growth.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Aim low and achieve. If the bar is set low, you can't help but win.

— Craig Jones

Winning is probably the closest you can get to heroin... you're on that high for days.

— Nicky Rodriguez

People take martial arts so serious. It's just pretty stupid really. We're just wrestling each other.

— Craig Jones

I think if you’re great at grappling and then you also do gear, it’s going to enhance what you’re already good at and make you much better.

— Nicky Rodriguez

I think whoever wins the street fight is whoever’s willing to take it the furthest, the fastest.

— Craig Jones

Origins of B-Team and split from Danaher Death Squad (DDS)Competitive mindset: love of winning, fear of losing, and egoTraining methodology: positional sparring, constraint-based learning, and preparation ritualsRivalry and drama with Gordon Ryan and New Wave Jiu-JitsuSteroids, physical preparation, and their impact on performanceInjuries, overtraining, and longevity in grappling careersMMA crossover: coaching Volkanovski for Makhachev and the Dagestani style

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