During his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience in May, Craig Jones had dumped $1 million in hard cash on Rogan’s desk leaving the host stunned! And, no, that’s not his earnings but the hefty prize purse for the upcoming Craig Jones Invitational (CJI)! Set to be held from August 16-17 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, the grappling tournament is a direct competitor to the Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championship, which will also be held from August 17-18 at the T-Mobile Arena in the same city. 

The Australian grappling sensation’s latest venture aims to provide a more lucrative financial avenue for grapplers to compete in, and has already got an impressive line-up of competitors raring to go.

With considerable hype already surrounding the event, let’s delve into the payouts for some of the biggest names in the grappling world set to feature at the event!

One of the biggest fights at the event is the men vs women superfight between Jones and Gabi Garcia. A four-time ADCC gold medal champion, Garcia is a phenomenal grappler and competitor. In a recent conversation with MMA Fighting, the Brazilian was asked to share the details of her CJI contract.

Garcia confessed that while she was aware of the speculation and numbers being thrown around, she couldn’t reveal the exact amount. She explained, “I can’t say how much it is because my contract doesn’t allow me to, but it’s more than $200,000. But I’ve already doubled that with sponsors — or tripled, I think.” 

As per reports, the CJI is paying $10,001 to every competitor for showing up, with each weight division winner taking home $1 million! Notably, the event is set up as a non-profit with a portion of the ticket sales marked for donation to a charity chosen by the athletes, Jones had revealed to Rogan.

Another massive name that was secured by the CJI is Mackenzie Dern, UFC women’s strawweight star and jiu-jitsu phenom. The former No. 1 ranked IBJJF competitor recently pulled back the curtain on why she chose CJI over ADCC. Speaking on the ‘Beasts with Brains’ podcast, Dern revealed that, “The biggest motivation was the purse and that they were going to pay the women’s fight such a good amount for a super fight…I have a good relationship with ADCC. I’m so supportive. But, it’s at T-Mobile Arena and, like I said, the money is the same as it was 10 years ago. To get this amount of money for a women’s fight, I couldn’t say no.”

Dern is slated to face off against Ffion Davies, a 2022 ADCC champion and 2-time IBJJF world champion. Davies and Dern will make the guaranteed money outside of whatever contracts they may have negotiated with Jones and the CJI and bonuses for submissions, among other things.

Talking about the monetary issues plaguing ADCC, Davies had revealed in a conversation in May, “The women’s prize money is 5K… I can make that doing a seminar… I could fight the champion or any of these amazing women in a super fight and we can both make a ton of money,” before continuing, “I hope that by competing on CJI, it actually puts pressure on ADCC to then pay athletes right.”

The overall prize pool for ADCC is reportedly around $250,000 with $6,000 to the Women’s Divisions 1st place holder, and $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 to second, third and fourth placed, respectively. Additionally, the superfight winner gets $40,000—noticeably much lesser than what the CJI is offering. As for the men’s division, the winner is awarded $10,000 with the subsequent finishers earning $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000.

For Gabi Garcia, though, the decision to compete in CJI instead of the ADCC comes at a heavy price. In her conversation with MMA Fighting, the Brazilian grappler detailed why she chose the CJI and her plans for the future with ADCC!

Gabi Garcia gives up a shot at the ADCC Hall of Fame for CJI  

Standing at a towering 6-foot-two, Gabi Garcia will be taking on Craig Jones in a unique match-up at the CJI. According to Garcia, she had previously been offered the chance to compete against male grapplers, but the financial benefits never aligned with the risks involved. However, she recently shared that, “He’s (Jones) revolutionizing the game with this idea, and for me, it’s good marketing.”

By throwing in her cards with the CJI, Garcia has now missed out on the chance to be inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame. Explaining her thought process behind the call, Garcia explained, “It wasn’t an easy decision because this is the first time the ADCC has an absolute division for women, which was a dream of mine. That and the Hall of Fame, which they took from me… ”

However, the Brazilian confessed that the ADCC will always “be there” and she isn’t opposed to the idea of competing under its banner in the future. To wrap things up, with the sky-high prize money for each tournament bracket and a lineup of top-tier athletes, the CJI has quickly become the talk of the sport. It promises not only thrilling matchups but also a potential shift in the landscape of competitive grappling in terms of athlete pay.

What are your thoughts on Craig Jones’s attempts at changing the financial fortunes of grapplers with the CJI? Let us know in the comments below!