In a revealing podcast appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, grappling star Craig Jones has provided details about the format and rules for his upcoming Craig Jones Invitationa tournament. He also confirmed the long-speculated intergender match between himself and multiple-time world champion Gabi Garcia is officially happening.
The CJI aims to raise the prize money significantly for top grapplers, with $2.3 million out of a $3 million budget being allocated to the athletes.
The matches leading up to the finals will consist of three 5-minute rounds judged by a unique scoring system designed to be more understandable for (MMA) mainstream audiences. Jones said, “We’ll have the judges translate into a template in MMA system so that MMA fans will understand.” Score updates will be openly displayed during matches.
One of the most unique aspects is the competition area itself – a massive 30×40 foot matted area Jones calls “the pit” with angled walls on the sides. This is intended to prevent competitors from stalling by backing up, as the angled walls would put them in a disadvantageous position.
But the biggest headline is Jones confirming his long-awaited match against ADCC and multiple-time World Champion Gabi Garcia is officially set. “We booked it, we signed this contract earlier,” Jones stated. The intergender match between the elite grapplers has been discussed for years and will undoubtedly draw massive attention.
Interestingly, Garcia also confirmed her participation in the ADCC.
Joe Rogan is Excited for Craig Jones Invitational but Can’t Help but Wish It Was Not Going Head-to-Head with ADCC
While extremely enthusiastic about the groundbreaking Craig Jones Invitational grappling event, UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan can’t help but wish it was not scheduled to directly compete with the prestigious ADCC tournament.
In a revealing podcast appearance with Jones, Rogan expressed both excitement about the CJI’s unprecedented $2.3 million prize purse and format innovations, but also reservations about it taking place on the same weekend as ADCC’s finals in September.
“I like I said, I think competition is always great, and I think just more eyeballs and more people paying attention to it is great for the sport,” Rogan told Jones. However, he added “I just don’t necessarily like the idea of going head-to-head because I feel like it just kind of messes with the athletes.”
Rogan pointed out that holding the events concurrently forces athletes to choose which one to compete in, likely alienating them from the other organization. “If they do that, ADCC is gonna probably hold a grudge,” he warned Jones.
The UFC commentator seems to prefer the CJI establish itself on a separate weekend from ADCC so athletes could potentially compete at both marquee tournaments without conflict. “There would be a year where it’s not in competition,” Rogan noted.
Despite his reservations about the scheduling, Rogan is clearly very intrigued and supportive of the CJI’s innovative elements like higher athlete compensation, open scoring during matches, and the “pit” competition area with angled walls.
He specifically praised the $1 million top prizes as “fantastic” given how little most grappling athletes earn from competition wins.
While wishing the event did not have to go head-to-head with ADCC, Rogan seems very much hoping the CJI succeeds and ushers in a new era of higher pay and mainstream appeal for the grappling world.
