Craig Jones Is Moving B Team Into a Jungle Mega-Resort, and It Is a Preview of Where Serious BJJ Training Is Headed

Zamaya, a roughly 300-guest training resort under construction outside Tulum, Mexico, is set to become B Team's new home base this fall. The blueprint behind it says a lot about what actually makes a jiu-jitsu program work, jungle resort or neighborhood gym.

Craig Jones and B Team Are Building Something No Gym Has Had Before

Craig Jones has trained all over the world, so when he says a place is unlike anywhere he has been, it is worth paying attention. That is exactly what he said after touring Zamaya, a training resort under construction in the Mayan jungle outside Tulum, Mexico, that is set to become B Team's new home base. The tour video went up on July 3, 2026, and the resort is targeted to open September 17, with B Team's first full camp there planned for early October.

The project is the work of Dave Foran, an Irish former professional rugby player who spent eight years developing it. Foran has described his goal simply, building what he called a Willy Wonka style fitness and training factory, a destination built entirely around serious training rather than a hotel that happens to have a gym attached.

Inside a Roughly 300-Guest Resort Built Around One Mat

The numbers behind Zamaya are on a different scale than a typical gym build-out. Its own dedicated building holds the jiu-jitsu studio one level up, wrapped around a square mat measuring 20 meters on each side, roughly 400 square meters of training space. A separate pavilion houses boxing and Muay Thai training with a ring, an octagon and about 16 heavy bags, while a full weights gym and a running track round out the strength and conditioning side.

Recovery gets just as much attention as training. Fighters and guests will have a trio of cold plunges to rotate through, along with a heated soak, a bank of nine rooms set aside purely for bodywork, a chamber built for weightless float sessions, and a traditional Mayan sweat lodge known as a temazcal. Around 200 workers have been on site during construction, which developers say is one of the largest bamboo construction projects in Mexico. Guests can stay in one of 48 hotel suites or 48 three-bedroom villas, putting total resort capacity at around 300 people, with a 90-seat restaurant and a 70-person seminar room built to keep everyone fed and connected between sessions.

• A 20 meter square mat filling its own dedicated top floor studio
• Standup pavilion built for boxing and Muay Thai, with a ring, a caged octagon and about 16 heavy bags for striking work
• Cold plunge trio, a heated soak, nine bodywork rooms, a float chamber and a Mayan sweat lodge
• 48 hotel suites plus 48 three-bedroom villas, about 300 guests at capacity
• 90-seat restaurant and a 70-person seminar room for camps and events

Why Jones Is Moving B Team's Home Base There

This is not a one-off seminar stop. Jones plans to live on-site once Zamaya opens, and a full-time B Team black belt will be stationed there from the start, with other B Team members expected to rotate through for camps and seminars. That is a meaningful commitment from a team that built its reputation on constant, structured mat time rather than one-off appearances, and it signals Zamaya is meant to function as an actual training home, not a marketing photo op in front of a nice mat.

Foran's pitch for the project lines up with that intent. He has talked about wanting a facility where a serious grappler could handle every part of a training day, technical rounds, live rolling, strength work, recovery and rest, without ever having to leave the property. For a team like B Team that has built a global following partly on how visibly they train, having a fixed, purpose-built home base is a natural next step.

What It Means If You Are Training Closer to Home

Most people reading this are never going to book a flight to a jungle resort in Tulum, and that is fine, because the actual ingredients that make Zamaya compelling are not exotic. Real, consistent mat time. A coach who is actually present, not just visiting. A place to recover instead of training through soreness. A community around you that makes it easier to keep showing up. Those are exactly the things a good local jiu-jitsu program is built on too, whether it sits inside a jungle or off a strip mall a few minutes from home.

That is the version of this we get to offer here in Las Vegas every day, without the flight. If a story like Zamaya has you thinking about what serious, structured training actually looks like, that is exactly what you will find on our mats, and there has never been a better time to try a class and feel it for yourself.

What Zamaya's Blueprint Says About Serious BJJ Training Anywhere

You do not need a jungle resort to apply the lessons behind Zamaya. Here is what the project's design says about what actually makes a training program work, in Tulum or in Las Vegas.

1. Real mat time comes first: Zamaya's entire top floor is dedicated to a single 20 by 20 meter jiu-jitsu studio, a reminder that everything else in a gym should support time on the mat, not compete with it.
2. Cross-training rounds out a grappler: A separate boxing and Muay Thai pavilion with an octagon and heavy bags shows why well-rounded programs pair jiu-jitsu with standup and conditioning work.
3. Recovery is part of training, not an afterthought: Three ice baths, a sauna, a flotation chamber and nine massage rooms make clear that how you recover between sessions matters as much as the sessions themselves.
4. A present coach beats a visiting one: Stationing a full-time black belt on-site from day one, rather than relying only on rotating guest seminars, is what turns a facility into an actual program.
5. Community keeps people coming back: A 90-seat restaurant and a 70-person seminar room exist so training does not stop when the mats clear, the relationships built around a gym matter as much as the technique.
6. You do not need a jungle to start: The core ingredients, consistent mat time, present coaching, real recovery and a community, are exactly what a good local academy offers too, no flight required.

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