The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) is returning for its second iteration with massive announcements that are shaking up the submission grappling world. The event organizers recently revealed significant developments in their “On Borrowed Time with Craig Jones” podcast, hosted by Alex Wendling.
Misfits America’s Coach Announced
The biggest breaking news is the appointment of Standard Jiu-Jitsu Academy’s Greg Souders as the coach for the America’s Misfits team. Sers, known for his unique training philosophy, will lead a team representing the Americas (not just the USA) in the upcoming event.
“It feels great. We made a lot of noise in the last couple years as a team and getting the invite to coach a bunch of guys that I’ve never coached before. It’s an exciting prospect and I’m looking forward to the opportunity,” Souders said in new video.
He has already confirmed one athlete for his squad: DeAndre Corbe at 66kg. Unlike the Australasia Misfits team led by Lachlan Giles, who will be conducting trials, Souders has opted against holding trials for team selection. Instead, he plans to analyze historical matchups and athlete performances to make his selections.
New Quintet-Inspired Format
CJI 2 will feature a hybrid Quintet format, heavily inspired by the team grappling event created by Kazushi Sakuraba, but with significant modifications. Unlike the original Quintet, heel hooks will be legal at CJI 2.
“Quintet is the event I had the most fun ever participating in,” Jones explained. “Whenever I’ve brought people that don’t follow jiu-jitsu or participate in it, that’s the event that they actually had the most fun attending.”
The format will feature real teams competing against each other rather than all-star squads. Each team will have representatives from the standard ADCC weight divisions: 66kg, 77kg, 88kg, under 99kg, and over 99kg.
The most exciting twist is the “Royal Rumble” style team selection process. Coaches won’t pre-arrange their order of competitors. Instead, they’ll choose athletes on the spot as matches progress, with only 10-15 seconds to make their decision when their turn comes.
“It’s going to be crazy to submit a guy and just be looking at a 10-second timer of being like, who the f*** are they sending out next? And I think that aspect of it will be really really exciting,” said Jones.
Wild Card Entries
Each team will be allowed one “wild card” competitor who doesn’t necessarily belong to their academy. This accommodates high-level athletes from smaller teams who might otherwise miss out on the event.
“Even teams like New Wave and ATOS, like if I corner Galvao and said, ‘Name your five best guys, one in each division,’ they’re going to name three, four really easy,” Jones explained. “We wanted some of the guys that belong to small teams to still have a shot.”
Jones mentioned Victor Hugo and Fabricio Andre as examples of the type of athletes the wild card provision aims to include.
European Misfits Team Update
Craig Jones revealed that Coach Faris will lead the European Misfits team. While their team selection process hasn’t been finalized, Jones confirmed that Owen Jones and Mateusz Szczecinski have secured spots on the European roster without having to trial.
Craig Jones vs. Gable Steveson
Craig Jones himself will be competing at CJI 2 in a super fight against Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson. Jones compared Steveson to his previous opponent Gabi Garcia, describing him as “the male equivalent of Gabby, but just a hell of a lot more athletic.”
“It’s hilarious how people will be like this is a stupid match. It’s easy match,” Jones said. “He’s 125kg, 6 foot… that’s crazy.”
Guardian Project Partnership
CJI 2 is partnering with the Guardian Project, the largest global nonprofit focused on providing free jiu-jitsu access to children. Seth Balile, CJI co-founder, announced they’re building an academy in Manora, Peru, which will serve as the flagship example of their partnership.
“The Fairfight Foundation and Guardian Project is partnering together to build an academy in Manora, Peru to be the flagship example of what our partnership can do,” Balile explained.
The facility will include a community center, a place to teach and learn English, and training facilities for over 300 kids.
Ticket Information Coming Soon
Jones teased that ticket release information will be announced in the next episode. He noted that the event will follow Masters Worlds weekend in Las Vegas, which could lead to tickets selling quickly as many jiu-jitsu practitioners will already be in town.
“Remember what our sport is. Our sport is a bunch of white, blue, and purple belt, recently divorced guys trying to get back in shape on st*roids fighting to the death. And they do that in Vegas every year at the Masters Worlds. Those people be wanting to watch CJI,” Jones quipped.
With CJI 1 raising $650,000 for charity through the Fairfight Foundation, expectations are high for both the competitive and philanthropic aspects of the second event. Fans can follow @CJIofficial on Instagram and visit cji2.com for the latest updates.
