The Craig Jones Invitational, or CJI for short, is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament scheduled for August 16th and 17th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This upcoming weekend marks one of the most significant weekends in submission grappling history. The two most polarizing events of the year, The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) and the ADCC World Championships are scheduled for August 16-17, 2024. A new rivalry in the sport has been born.

Craig Jones launched the new league as a competitor to the prestigious ADCC (Abu Dabhi Combat Combat Club) tournament which is intentionally being held on the same weekend and in the same city. The Craig Jones Invitational occurs at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center, while ADCC transpires at the T-Mobile Arena.

Craig Jones established the CJI as a response to ADCC’s failure to raise athlete pay in over 20 years since their tournament began. In the latest ADCC event, over 10,000 tickets were sold. The production value was exceptionally high, featuring Bruce Buffer, drummers, a ridiculous fire show, and other spectacles that many athletes considered unnecessary and not directly related to the competition.

CJI Athletes & First-Round Matchups

Brackets for the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) are now available for the upcoming grappling tournament. In addition to the $1 million grand prize, CJI will also award $50,000 for “Submission of the Night.” A minimum prize purse for each competitor is $10,001.

The CJI first-round brackets are below:

Under 80kg:

Tye Ruotolo vs. Jason Nolf
Roberto Jimenez vs Levi Jones-Leary
Lucas Barbosa vs. Kenta Iwamoto
Jozef Chen vs. Andy Varela

Kade Ruotolo vs. Matheus Diniz
Renato Canuto vs. Tommy Langaker
Magid Hage vs. Eoghan O’Flanagan
Nicky Ryan vs. Andrew Tackett

Over 80kg:

Nicky Rodriguez vs. Max Gimenis
Owen Livesey vs. Mahamed Aly
Adam Bradley vs. Kyle Boehm
Luke Rockhold vs. Pat Downey

Victor Hugo vs. Lucas Kanard
Inacio Santos vs. Pedro Alex
Fellipe Andrew vs. Daniel Greg Kerkvliet
William Tackett vs. Joao Gabriel Rocha

Craig Jones Super Fights

Along with the bracketed showdowns, CJI also includes two super fights.

The first super fight features former ADCC champion Mackenzie Dern against defending ADCC gold medalist Ffion Davies. Mackenzie is currently a successful UFC fighter, she recently defeated Lupita Godinez on August 3rd.

However, Dern will have a handicap to clear when facing Davies, who solely trains in grappling and is coming in with a 15-match winning streak. If we are to talk specifically about no-gi, Ffion hasn’t lost a match in her weight class since the 2019 ADCC finals, almost 5 years ago.

Additionally, event organizer Craig Jones will face off against nine-time world champion Gabi Garcia in a never before seen crossover match. The first-ever female versus male submission grappling match in the history of Jiu Jitsu. The world has no idea how seriously this match should be handled. Competitive or exhibition match?

CJI Ruleset

The Craig Jones Invitational is primarily a No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu event, despite having a diverse range of competitors, such as MMA fighters and elite college wrestlers.

The event will be split into two weight classes: over 80kg and under 80kg, without any subdivisions based on belt rank.

Unlike traditional Jiu Jitsu match scoring, CJI will utilize a scoring system similar to MMA. With multiple rounds where the winner receives a 10-9 score (or potentially a 10-8 or even 10-7 score in the case of a particularly dominant round). In the event of a draw, the athlete who won the last round will be determined the winner.

The matches will take place on mats with slanted side walls, preventing the fighters from escaping the area, similar to the setup of the Karate Kombat fight.

How to Watch CJI

CJI will be on YouTube for free. Craig stated the main goal of CJI is to grow the sport, they are not concerned with profiting.

Coverage of the 2024 ADCC World Championships will be exclusively on FloGrappling. However, A FloGrappling account will cost $30 a month or $149.99 annually.

The Joe Rogan Experience with Craig Jones

If you’d like to learn more about the back story behind the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), consider checking out the Joe Rogan interview with Craig Jones: