Before 1993, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was almost non-existent in the US. But today, out of around 50,000 martial arts institutes in the nation, nearly 20% are for BJJ. It is one of the fastest-growing sports and one of the new events that has popped up is CJI or the Craig Jones Invitational. Here’s all you need to know about it!

This tournament is named after Craig Jones, who is an Australian grappler, and BJJ Blackbelt. He trains out of B team jiu-jitsu in Austin, Texas. One of the co-founders of the gym, he also trains with other big names like Nick Rodriguez, Nikki Ryan, and Ethan Crelinsten. Jones is one of the best No-Gi grapplers of all time and the two-time ADCC silver medalist decided to start his promotion to pay fighters better.

CJI is a nonprofit grappling event that is organized by the Fair Fight Foundation. He even went to Joe Rogan’s podcast to promote his show and made the episode viral by bringing in $1 million cash in a bag, which he plans to present to the fighters.

Craig Jones Invitational competitors’ list, how to watch, timings, and more

Essentially, the main idea of creating CJI had arrived from the belief that all fighters and athletes should be paid more money, especially those who are at the top of the sport. A professional athlete needs to spend a lot of money on training properly and becoming a BJJ competitor does not pay well, even though it is a high-stakes tournament. This is why Jones decided to fix this issue and give the athletes the recognition and money that they deserve.

Primarily, the CJI has two main divisions which are the men’s 176 lbs and men’s 176+ lbs. The rule in this tournament is to use the Karate combat style, which is completed with angled walls to ensure that the fights are action-packed. The tournament also presents fresh rules to give a new perspective on grappling and has a 10-point system with three rounds worth 5 minutes.

This year, it is scheduled for August 16 and 17 and there is an incredible $50,000 bonus available for the best submission by a fighter.

The list of competitors under 176 lbs is as follows:

• Andrew Tackett
• Nicky Ryan
• Jozef Chen
• Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa
• Renato Canuto
• Matheus Diniz
• Eoghan O’Flanagan
• Levi Jones-Leary
• Tommy Langaker
• Jason Nolf
• Andy Varela
• Kade Ruotolo
• Tye Ruotolo
• Magid Hage
• Roberto Jimenez
• Kenta Iwamoto

The list of fighters under the 176+ lbs division:

• William Tackett
• Luke Rockhold
• Nicky Rodriguez
• Joao Gabriel Rocha
• Victor Hugo
• Owen Livesey
• Fellipe Andrew
• Max Gimenis
• Adam Bradley
• Inacio Santos
• Pat Downey
• Pedro Alex
• Kyle Boehm
• Mohamed Aly
• Daniel Greg Kerkvliet
• Lucas Kanard

Superfights

• Craig Jones vs Gabi Garcia
• Ffion Davies vs Mackenzie Dern

Notably, fans can watch CJI Live & Free on B-Team YouTube, Facebook, and X (Twitter). But the bigger question is about the prize money!

How much are CJI athletes earning as compared to ADCC?

Jones had left no stone unturned while promoting his event and even went to the Joe Rogan Experience. The UFC color commentator welcomed the Australian grappler to his podcast, who dumped $1 million in cash out on the table to promote his upcoming tournament. This tournament is competing against the Abu Dhabi Combat Club [ADCC] Submission Fighting World Championship.

This organization is regarded to be the most elite jiu-jitsu competition in the world and Jones has been a part of it and won several medals. However, once he realized that they do not pay the athletes what they deserve, he took matters into his own hands.

Here’s what ADCC pays:

• Men’s Divisions 1st place: $10,000
• Men’s Divisions 2nd place: $5,000
• Men’s Divisions 3rd place: $3,000
• Men’s Divisions 4th place: $1,000
• Women’s Divisions 1st place: $6,000
• Women’s Divisions 2nd place: $3,000
• Women’s Divisions 3rd place: $2,000
• Women’s Divisions 4th place: $1,000
• Superfight Winner: $40,000
• Superfight Loser: $10,000

In contrast, Craig Jones Invitational announced that it would be giving a $50,000 bonus for the best submission. Apart from that, it is already the highest-paying event in the history of sports, thanks to the $1,000,000 Grand Prize and $10,000 show money that will be paid to every athlete who participates.

Let us also discuss Jones’s super fight for a minute because that’s one fight people can’t stop raving about.

All about Gabi Garcia vs Craig Jones: Garcia promised to smash her opponent!

This fight is going to be unique because first, it is not between two men or two women. It is between one man and a woman athlete. Craig Jones is attempting a fight with Gabrielle ‘Gabi’ Garcia, who is one of the greatest jiu-jitsu competitors of all time. Garcia is a 4-time ADCC Gold Medallist and a 6-time IBJJF world champion. She always had a desire to fight a famous male fighter for many years, but it was never granted to her. However, now she has finally got the chance to enter a match for the first time against a male athlete.

This is going to be a unique incident in the history of mixed martial arts, for sure. “He’s revolutionizing the game with this idea,” Garcia told MMA Fighting adding, “And for me, it’s good marketing. It’s more than fighting a man. The American audience has never really liked me, you know? I’ve always dealt with hate. And for the first time in my career, I feel 99 percent of the people are on my side.”

Fortunately, both of them have trained together in the past and for Garcia, it is good because she has never lost a fight with him during practice. She also admitted that she was cutting weight for an MMA fight in May, so Jones would probably be heavier than her. This super fight is going to continue for three rounds of 5 minutes each, and Garcia assumes that it is going to favor her opponent. If it was up to her, she would have met in a 15-minute contest with no breaks, but she is still fine with the arrangement.

She further said, “The truth is, I don’t think I’ll submit him because he’s really good, but don’t expect me to go easy on him. It’s been a long time. … He’s pissing me off for so long I want to smash him. He calls me all the time, he posts about me all the time. Give me a break, Craig! [Laughs.] If I get to a good position, I’ll control the match instead of exposing myself [to a submission] for nothing, of course.”

On the other hand, Jones, who is known to be fun-loving and goofy, wanted to make his intentions clear about the fight. He seems pretty serious about it and has bet big money on himself to win through a leg lock. He wrote on Instagram, “In case you thought I was going to take it easy on her. 100k of my own money on the line.” He even claimed that he would retire if he lost the bout against Garcia. However, there’s something more interesting about this event.

Craig Jones talks about his rival, Gordon Ryan, being at the CJI

Right now, this event is the talk of the town and many grapplers who were supposed to fight at the ADCC made a last-moment jump into CJI for a high-payment event. On the other hand, Gordon Ryan is currently the best ADCC competitor and seems to have a beef with Jones. This was one of the reasons why the Australian was asked a few months back if he would allow the ‘King’ to compete in his promotion.

While speaking to Chris Williamson in May, Jones revealed, “I’d let anyone do it. I’ve got the custom-gold Craig Jones Invitational ring he’d have to kiss, but for sure I’d let him in.” However, Ryan is returning to compete in ADCC on August 17 and 18. But the fact that CJI is going to happen before that might inadvertently take some of the attention away from Ryan’s ADCC fight.

It remains to see if the $1 million price is going to attract more fighters to compete in the Craig Jones Invitational. What do you think about this new initiative? Tell us in the comments below.