Fans of Craig Jones have taken to social media to call out what they perceive as blatant plagiarism by the UFC and former UFC star Claudia Gadelha during UFC FP Invitational 11.
The controversy erupted after Gadelha, who was interviewed by Morgan Worth during the broadcast, provided an explanation of the new rule set being implemented at the event. Eagle-eyed viewers and Jones’ supporters quickly noted striking similarities between Gadelha’s explanation and statements previously made by Jones about his own promotion.
During the interview, Gadelha explained: “We tried in June of 2023, we tried this different rule set and worked very well, but we felt like we needed some time with the judges and the referees to make sure we sharpen the rule set.”
She continued by discussing the challenges of making jiu-jitsu more accessible: “Jiu-jitsu is very methodical. It’s hard for the core, hard poor MMA fan to understand Jiu-Jitsu. And we feel like we are getting there. We are starting to understand what the fans need.”
When explaining the motivation behind the changes, Gadelha stated: “MMA has been around for 35 years, and Jiu-Jitsu has been around for over 100 years. And MMA is way more developed because of the wow moments. And in order to create the wow moments in Jiu-Jitsu, we need to push the pace on these rounds.”
Fans of Craig Jones immediately recognized these talking points as nearly identical to explanations Jones had given when discussing his own Craig Jones Invitational promotion’s rule set changes. Many took to social media platforms to express their disappointment that the UFC appeared to be copying Jones’ innovative approach without acknowledgment.
One user posted: “I’m sorry but is @ufcfightpass really trying to take credit for using the 10 point must system for jiu-jitsu? Like f**king really 😂 gave almost a word for f**king word explanation for it that @craigjonesbjj gave almost a f**cking year ago”.
The similarities continued when Gadelha explained the scoring system: “This way here, you’re not getting two, three points. If you get taken down, if someone take you back, you don’t have to worry about anything other than a submission. And we want a lot of submissions in this events. We want the wow moments.”
When asked about the broader impact of these changes, Gadelha predicted: “I think this will change Jiu-Jitsu forever. Like I said, Jiu-Jitsu has been around for so long. And we needed a company like the UFC to come in and organize the whole aspect of Jiu-Jitsu.”
This sure would’ve sounded a whole lot better had CJI not done it first. And Especially considering the detailed explanation Craig provided at the Lex Friedman podcast in 2024.
Craig Jones has been widely credited within the grappling community for pioneering a more spectator-friendly approach to submission grappling competitions through his innovative rule set and formats. Many of his supporters feel that the UFC should have acknowledged his influence on these changes rather than presenting them as entirely original concepts.
