The grappling world has been buzzing with the news of high-profile athletes choosing the Craig Jones Invitational over the prestigious ADCC competition. The latest to join this trend is Kenta Iwamoto, who has filled the final spot in the -80kg division of CJI.
Iwamoto, a member of the B-Team, had initially secured his place in the ADCC by winning the Asian trials. However, the allure of CJI’s unprecedented $1 million prize purse proved too tempting to resist. Just six days after being announced as an ADCC competitor, Iwamoto made the decision to trade his invite for a shot at the life-changing CJI prize.
Explaining his choice, Iwamoto stated, “I was chosen as one of the 16 people who were given a chance of becoming a millionaire in one day. If the reason I have been chosen poses as a question as to whether I can do it, I am going to answer that I will. And once this is over, I’ll be spending my days frolicking with girls in a garden in a faraway heavenly land.”
This move has significantly impacted the ADCC -77kg division, further thinning out the competition. While CJI claims to harbor no animosity towards ADCC, their aggressive recruitment of top talent has not gone unnoticed in the grappling community.
The CJI tournament, set to take place on August 16-17th in Las Vegas, has been making waves with its innovative approach and substantial prize money. In addition to the main purse, Craig Jones recently revealed a $50,000 prize for the best submission of the event, adding another layer of excitement to the competition.
As the CJI over 80kg division still has three spots remaining, speculation continues about potential last-minute additions. Craig Jones mentioned that negotiations with Kron Gracie had been ongoing, though they appear to have stalled for now. It’s unclear it Gracie was targeted for a superfight or if he was interested in joining a division.
With elite talents like the Ruotolo brothers and now Kenta Iwamoto choosing CJI over ADCC, the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational is shaping up to be a landmark event in the world of submission grappling.
