Chris Wojcik recently revealed his decision to compete in Craig Jones‘ Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) instead of UFC’s new jiu-jitsu platform. During his appearance on The Simple Man podcast, Wojcik explained the reasoning behind this choice, citing communication problems and contractual concerns with the UFC.
“The UFC was kind of being difficult to work with,” Wojcik explained. “They were not communicating the details of the show very well. I pulled out like a week before I was supposed to leave and I still hadn’t seen a contract. They were like ‘oh yeah you’re leaving on this date’ but they didn’t say ‘here’s your flight’ or ‘this is a contract you got to sign.'”
Beyond the communication issues, Wojcik was uncomfortable with the exclusive contract terms being offered.
“The exclusive contract thing was… I mean I just felt like it was not smart for me to sign an exclusive contract,” he stated.
Financial considerations also played a significant role in his decision. Wojcik pointed out the potentially higher earnings available through CJI:
“I mean I am I guess biased to CJI because CJI is like Seth and Craig are putting on CJI but also I was looking at how much money CJI is if you win and the UFC like… it’s more money to win (CJI) than to win the one tournament as well.”
The leg lock specialist also highlighted the growing popularity of CJI, referencing Craig Jones‘ comparison of the event to a “Super Bowl” for jiu-jitsu.
“It’s like the Super Bowl right now in jiu-jitsu,” Wojcik said. “I saw some analytic.” Nicky Rod added: ” It was like across all platforms it was like 60 or 90 million views.”
Wojcik drew an interesting parallel to soccer, noting how sometimes the best players don’t always compete in the most prestigious leagues:
“You’ll see this in soccer – the top like Ronaldo is playing in Saudi Arabia or some sh** right now instead of playing in the Premier League or Spain… Saudi Arabia is not the best soccer league but they have the best player… So, it’s like you’re going to see that where like the UFC is going to get some really good people, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be the best event or the best organization.”
Wojcik‘s perspective offers insight into the factors athletes consider when deciding where to showcase their talents in the growing sport.
