5 Reasons To Get Hyped About At Craig Jones Invitational 2

When Craig Jones introduced the first-ever CJI early final 12 months, a lot of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling world thought, “No manner he pulls this off.”

Then he did. $1 million to the winner, each athlete paid greater than ADCC, and a jiu-jitsu occasion that felt much less like a event and extra like a motion. It was chaotic, slick, and precisely what the game wanted.

Now he’s again for spherical two.

Craig Jones Invitational 2 takes place on August 30–31, 2025, on the Thomas & Mack Heart in Las Vegas, and the format has leveled up. Suppose: group battles, tag-style eliminations, and a supersized forged of coaches and athletes from everywhere in the world.

It’s not nearly submissions anymore. It’s about pleasure, technique, and for the prize of actual cash.

Listed here are 5 issues it’s best to completely be enthusiastic about.

1) It’s A Full-On Group Grappling Showdown

CJI 2 flips the script with a brand new team-based format. Eight squads of 5 athletes will compete in a Quintet-style elimination format, the place teammates tag in as others are eradicated. This provides a layer of technique we don’t usually see in elite grappling, the place matchups matter, fatigue stacks, and momentum can swing arduous. It’s fast-paced, chaotic, and excellent for followers.

2) Million-Greenback Prize For The Successful Group

The stakes are larger than ever. The profitable group takes house $1 million, with each athlete additionally receiving a assured look charge that already surpasses what ADCC usually gives. It’s clear that CJI isn’t only a self-importance venture, it’s about making a financially viable, athlete-first mannequin for skilled grappling. It’s Jone’s very personal manner of giving again to the game which made him a world celebrity.

3) Watch The Greatest Superfight But: Craig Jones Vs Gable Steveson

Jones stepping again on the mat himself to face Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson in a real conflict of types. Grappling purists and wrestling fanatics have been circling this matchup because it was introduced. Steveson brings Olympic-caliber stress and athleticism, whereas Jones brings years of submission experience and the home-crowd benefit. Count on fireworks.

4) Recreation-Altering Ladies’s Bracket

After some honest criticism following CJI 1’s lack of a ladies’s division, the second installment incorporates a devoted four-woman bracket with a $100,000 prize pool. Large names like Helena Crevar and Adele Fornario are already confirmed, and the matchups may grow to be among the most enjoyable of the weekend. It’s an enormous step ahead, not only for CJI, however for girls’s grappling as an entire.

5) International Groups And Star Coaches

From the U.S. to Australia, from New Wave to tenth Planet, CJI 2 will characteristic prime gyms and regional squads, every led by among the sport’s greatest minds. Suppose John Danaher, Eddie Bravo, Lachlan Giles, and Craig himself, with squads like B-Group and Group Americas filling the brackets. It’s half grappling competitors, half World Cup, and absolutely unpredictable.

Conclusion

Craig Jones Invitational 2 isn’t only a jiu-jitsu event. It’s a press release about the place the game goes. Greater stakes, extra construction, higher pay, and a format that really retains followers glued to the motion.

The way forward for grappling doesn’t appear to be what we grew up watching. And that is likely to be the most effective factor about it.

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