In a freewheeling interview, grappling star Craig Jones pulled no punches in poking fun at the prestigious ADCC tournament while explaining the motivations behind his upstart Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) event.
Jones is holding the CJI tournament on August 17-18 in Las Vegas, going head-to-head against the long-running ADCC event taking place that same weekend. The bold move is intended to disrupt the grappling industry and force better athlete compensation, according to Jones.
“It’s kinda we’re kinda unionizing. And, again, it’s obviously it’s all the same again as ADCC, but it’s a message to every organization, say, measures to every event that, hey, you gotta you gotta play ball,” Jones said of scheduling his event at the same time as ADCC.
While ADCC awards just $10,000 to its tournament winner, Jones’ CJI will pay $1 million to its champion in each the under and over 80kg divisions. All competitors are also guaranteed at least $10,001 just for showing up.
Jones cheekily named the event after himself as “a bit of tongue in cheek” at promoters who make things too much about themselves rather than the athletes. He contrasted his million-dollar payout with never having won an ADCC title himself.
“It’s sort of tongue in cheek when the promoter makes the event more about themselves than about the athletes,” Jones said. “It’s the Craig Jones Invitational [even though] I’m a guy that’s never won anything.”
The Australian star saved his sharpest barbs for ADCC promoter Mo Jassim, whom Jones said has ignored requests to have an open discussion about raising athlete compensation as the sport has grown.
“I wanted to get ahead of it earlier,” Jones said. “I said, ‘Hey guy, let’s do a podcast on it. Just explain the business decisions.'”
With lucrative paydays now on offer, many top grapplers like Nicky Rodriguez have signed on for Jones’ show. But the promoter remains confused why ADCC has been silent about his rival event.
“That probably concerns me,” Jones said. “I should get a couple angry messages, and not just in the DMs.”
While risking the ire of ADCC, Jones sees an opportunity to drive long-overdue changes to fighter pay. It’s all part of leaving a legacy of improving conditions for the next generation of grapplers.
“If I can’t win the big tournaments, I’ll at least leave a legacy of helping the next generation,” Jones said.
