What Is The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI)?

The world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is by far one of many fastest-growing sports activities on the planet. No-Gi grappling, specifically, has developed a lot previously decade that many occasions and tournaments have emerged to showcase the most effective grapplers worldwide. One new and thrilling occasion that has popped up is the CJI or Craig Jones Invitational. Right this moment, we’ll focus on this distinctive occasion and its affect on BJJ as a complete. 

Who Is Craig Jones?

Earlier than we go over the occasion itself, it’s essential to know who the person behind the concept is. Craig Jones is an Australian grappler and BJJ black belt beneath Lachlan Giles, presently coaching out of the notorious B-Crew Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, Texas. He is among the co-founders of the health club, together with different massive names like Nick Rodriguez, Nicky Ryan, and Ethan Crelinsten. 

Craig Jones is among the greatest No-Gi grapplers of this technology and is thought for his tough fashion of Jiu-Jitsu. At all times a risk in nearly all positions, he’s a two-time ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship silver medalist and a three-time Polaris Professional Grappling champion. Jones is a well-respected athlete and is now pushing the game additional by placing collectively a large match that rivals even essentially the most established occasions like ADCC.

The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI)

The Craig Jones Invitational is a non-profit grappling occasion introduced by the Honest Combat Basis. It’s a high-profile submission grappling present composed of tremendous fights and a match consisting of two divisions — males’s −80 kg and males’s 80+ kg. All of the athletes had been invited and can obtain a minimal payout of $10,001, with the match winners getting $1 million every. The CJI can be held on August 16 – 17, 2024, on the Thomas & Mack Heart in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 

Primarily, the concept of making the CJI got here from the assumption that athletes needs to be paid extra, particularly these on the very prime of the game. Whereas a fast-growing martial artwork, turning into a competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu remains to be not as financially viable for most individuals. Coaching like an expert athlete is undoubtedly costly, and sadly, turning into a BJJ competitor merely doesn’t pay properly, even in high-stakes tournaments just like the IBJJF Worlds or ADCC. The Craig Jones Invitational seeks to repair this situation by permitting deserving athletes to compete for $1 million. 

The Opponents

As talked about above, the CJI could have 2 divisions — males’s −80 kg and males’s 80+ kg. The rivals are as follows:

Males’s Underneath 80kg

Andrew Tackett from (USA) – ADCC West Coast Trials Winner
Nicky Ryan (USA) – Polaris Champion and ADCC West Coast Trials Winner
Jozef Chen (Taiwan/ Germany) – ADCC European Trials Winner
Lucas’ Hulk’ Barbosa (Brazil) – 3x IBJJF No-Gi World Champion
Renato Canuto (Brazil) – IBJJF No-Gi World Champion
Matheus Diniz (Brazil) – ADCC World Champion
Eoghan O’Flanagan (UK) – ADCC European Trials Winner
Tommy Langaker (Norway) – IBJJF No-Gi World Champion
Levi Jones-Leary (Australia) – ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials Winner
Jason Nolf (USA) – 3x NCAA Wrestling Champion
Andy Varela (USA) – PGF World Champion
Kade Ruotolo (USA) – ADCC World Champion
Tye Ruotolo (USA) – IBJJF World Champion
Roberto Jimenez (Ecuador/ USA) – IBJJF Absolute No-Gi World Champion
Magid Hage (Brazil/ USA) – ADCC Brazil Trials Runner-Up 
Kenta Iwamoto (Japan) – 3x ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials Winner

Males’s Over 80kg

William Tackett (USA) – ADCC West Coast Trials Winner
Luke Rockhold (USA) – UFC and Strikeforce Middleweight Champion
Nick Rodriguez (USA) – 2x ADCC Silver Medalist
Lucas Kanard – ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials Winner
Joao Gabriel Rocha (Brazil) – IBJJF Pans Champion
Victor Hugo (Brazil) – 5x IBJJF World Champion
Owen Livesey (UK) – Catch Wrestling World Champion 
Fellipe Andrew (Brazil) – IBJJF World Champion
Max Gimenis (Brazil) – IBJJF Pans Champion
Adam Bradley (USA) – ADCC West Coast Trials Runner-Up
Inacio Santos (Brazil) – ADCC Brazil Trials Winner
Pat Downey (USA) – US Nationwide Wrestling Champion
Pedro Alex (Brazil) – IBJJF South American Champion
Kyle Boehm (USA) – BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix Champion
Mahamed Aly (Brazil) – IBJJF World Champion
Daniel Greg Kerkvliet (USA) – NCAA Champion

Superfight

Ffion Davies vs Mackenzie Dern
Craig Jones vs Gabi Garcia

Guidelines And Different Specifics

The CJI will use a Karate Fight-style pit, full with angled partitions, to make sure matches are stored action-packed and dynamic. Karate Fight has launched grappling matches utilizing the pit, producing many thrilling bouts, particularly when rivals use the pit creatively. It’s assured that we’ll see extra of the identical come August 16 – 17. 

The foundations of this competitors are distinctive and supply a contemporary perspective on grappling on the whole. The CJI will use a 10-point should system with three 5-minute rounds, much like scoring in blended martial arts. The main focus is on motion and efficient use of the grappling enviornment. Stalling and passivity penalties are put in place to encourage a extra aggressive fashion of grappling from all rivals. 

Conclusion

All in all, the Craig Jones Invitational is bound to show numerous heads worldwide. With its spectacular format, progressive guidelines, and world-class rivals, the CJI is assured to turn out to be an instantaneous traditional and a much-needed increase to the game of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 

Because the CJI continues to develop and evolve, it guarantees to stay a key fixture in grappling and goals to turn out to be one of many premier grappling competitions on the market. Everybody is aware of that competitors is at all times factor. Whereas IBJJF and ADCC tournaments have helped construct the game develop for many years, the CJI can solely make issues higher for everybody because it promotes wholesome competitors, which in flip will pressure Jiu-Jitsu to develop additional. 

Whether or not you’re a fan of Craig Jones or not, it’s a must to admire his imaginative and prescient as a result of creating one thing as groundbreaking because the Craig Jones Invitational isn’t a simple process. We’re undoubtedly excited in regards to the occasion, and we hope you might be, too!

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