Craig Jones didn’t miss the opportunity to roast UFC BJJ following their fourth event’s disappointing viewership numbers. The Australian grappling star and promoter took to Instagram stories during and after the UFC BJJ 4 broadcast, mocking the promotion as its live viewer count struggled to break 20,000 concurrent viewers, a far cry from the numbers his own Craig Jones Invitational has generated.
The schadenfreude was palpable in Jones’ posts. In one story, he laughed at ICE immigration ads running during the UFC BJJ broadcast, captioning it
“hahahahahaha f***ing ICE ads during this ufc bjj match.”
The implication was clear: UFC BJJ couldn’t attract premium advertisers for their broadcast, instead running controversial government ads about catching “the worst of the worst” criminals and “dangerous illegals.”
Another story showed Jones at what appeared to be the event, captioning a meme with
“This why I be talking shiiiii”
alongside text reading
“FPI is the biggest Grappling event on the planet.”
The message was unambiguous. Jones believes his Craig Jones Invitational has surpassed UFC’s grappling venture in relevance and impact.
Perhaps most damning was Jones’ story highlighting the viewership numbers directly. A screenshot showed UFC BJJ 4 with approximately 19,000 live viewers, circled in pink for emphasis. Jones compared it to other events, noting that “UFC BJJ” had just 19,000 viewers while activities like marble racing drew 100,000-300,000, fishing pulled 50,000-150,000, and even darts managed 50,000-100,000 concurrent viewers. The kicker? His own CJI peak viewership was listed at “~130,000 live concurrent.”
In yet another post, Jones called out UFC BJJ Exec Stephen Tecci for shade he previously threw at CJI 2.
“20k live co main.. DANA give this guy a raise.”
The jab at Tecci came as the broadcast showed just over 20,000 viewers during the co-main event between Ronaldo Junior and William Tackett.
The numbers tell a pretty somber story for UFC BJJ. According to VidIQ data, UFC BJJ 4 peaked at approximately 25,000 views per hour just two hours after the broadcast began. Eight hours later, viewership had cratered to 3,000 views per hour. The stream currently sits at 211,583 total views, a number that pales in comparison to keystone grappling events and raises serious questions about the promotion’s trajectory.
What makes the viewership particularly concerning is the promotional deficit. UFC BJJ 4 received significantly less marketing push than previous editions, with minimal social media promotion and virtually no mainstream UFC cross-promotion despite having access to the organization’s massive platform. The lack of promotion showed in the results: Google Trends data reveals UFC BJJ 4 generated less worldwide interest than UFC BJJ 3, though it did see a slight uptick in US-specific searches.
This viewership disappointment comes on the heels of BJJDOC’s analysis questioning the legitimacy of UFC BJJ 3’s reported ratings. If those concerns had merit, UFC BJJ 4’s transparent struggle to reach even 25,000 concurrent viewers suggests the promotion may be facing an existential crisis in building an audience.
The event itself delivered okay action, with Andrew Tackett successfully defending his welterweight title against Elijah Dorsey via first-round heel hook. Ronaldo Junior captured the middleweight championship with a dominant decision over William Tackett, while Aurelie Le Vern won her match with a hammerlock submission over Raquel Canuto. Nineteen-year-old Landon Elmore made a spectacular debut, submitting Nate Hernandez with an Aoki lock in under one minute.
Jones’ mockery highlights a harsh reality: despite the UFC brand, access to the UFC Apex venue, and backing from the world’s premier MMA organization, UFC BJJ is struggling to capture even a fraction of the audience that independent grappling promotions have cultivated.
For Jones, the underwhelming viewership numbers vindicate his decision to create CJI as a competitor. His promotion’s ability to generate six times the live viewership of UFC BJJ, without the infrastructure or brand recognition of the UFC, demonstrates that grappling fans respond to authentic promotion, compelling matchmaking and creator-driven marketing rather than simply slapping the UFC logo on a jiu-jitsu event.
Whether UFC BJJ can reverse course and build a sustainable audience remains to be seen. But for now, Craig Jones has the receipts, and he’s making sure everyone sees them.
