What comes to your mind when you hear the name ‘Bearjew’? For pop culture enthusiasts, it would be Eli Roth’s character ‘Sgt. Donny Donnovitz’ from Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglorious Basterds.’ But for MMA fans, it would be Scotland’s Paul Craig. The UFC middleweight is all set to fight Calo Borralho at UFC 301 in the Farmasi Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the 4th of May. As we await his main card opener bout, let’s take a peek at the story behind his iconic nickname.

Although Craig holds a respectable 17-7-1 MMA record, he is coming to Rio after a loss to Brendan Allen at UFC Fight Night 232, via a rear-naked choke. Following his losses in the light heavyweight realm, the Scotsman decided to move down to the middleweight division. Although often deemed a ‘wonky fighter’, Craig would be most definitely looking forward to a win. While he is quite an impressive fighter, let’s shift our focus to specifically his moniker.

Why is Paul Craig called ‘Bearjew’?

Many have tried to nudge Paul Craig to find the story behind the fighter’s moniker. But none have succeeded so far. Back in 2017, ‘MMA News’ tried hard to know the history behind the nickname, but to no avail. The former BAMMA world light heavyweight champion stood adamant and simply refused to even give a hint at the origin story. 

One reason behind the nickname could be hiding in the fighter’s style. With his base rooted in grappling, with a BJJ black belt to add to the name, the fighter could be compared to a bear. Craig has often displayed phenomenal ground control, winning fights with armbars, rear-naked chokes, and triangle chokes, with the triangle choke being the most frequent.

This, in fact, comes really close to justifying his moniker. But this is just one of the many speculations, waiting to be confirmed by the fighter. 

As per the official UFC website, the origin of his nickname is written as a “closely guarded gym secret.” Craig has always refused to talk about his nickname and hence attracted quite a lot of attention to it. Without a doubt, the fans all around the world are pretty curious about the story. But with it being a ‘gym secret’, only a select few know the real story.

What is Paul Craig’s religious beliefs? Is UFC star Jew?

Since Craig himself has never revealed the secret, mixed martial arts fans have made speculations that ‘Bearjew’ could be symbolic of his religion. This raises another question. Is Paul Craig a Jew? 

Craig can be easily compared with a giant bear. Not just because of his being a towering Scotsman and for his fighting style, but also because of his size. It is quite normal for people to assume that the moniker might mean the fighter resembles a bear. To many fans’ surprise, ‘Bearjew’ isn’t actually Jewish. Another possibility could point towards Quentin Tarantino’s well-appreciated movie, ‘Inglorious Bastards,’ wherein, the baseball bat-wielding character, played by Eli Roth, was named ‘Bear Jew’.

It is now a fact that it doesn’t correlate to any religious beliefs, which nullifies most of the assumptions made regarding the history of the nickname. The story behind Craig’s moniker remains a well-guarded ‘gym secret’ that the entire world of mixed martial arts is ‘dying’ to know about.

But how long is the fighter going to hide it and tease the MMA world? Only time can tell. What do you think of the Scotsman’s moniker? Did you think he was Jewish? Drop down to the comments below and let us know your thoughts.