In a recent appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast, prominent grappler Craig Jones discussed the fallout surrounding his much-anticipated match against Meregali that never came to fruition. Jones provided his perspective on the series of events that led to the fight being canceled, as well as his critiques of how the situation was handled and reported by Flograppling.
According to Jones, the match was initially signed and promoted by Flograppling, but logistical issues and shifting timelines ultimately caused it to fall apart.
According to Jones, the match was initially agreed upon to take place shortly after the ADCC tournament. However, plans changed when Meregali opted for a vacation in Brazil instead. Despite this setback, Jones claims that Flograppling approached him with a new February date for the match.
Jones explained that he couldn’t commit to the February date due to his commitment to help Alexander Volkanovski prepare for his bout against Islam Makhachev in Perth. It was at this point that Jones alleges Flograppling made a questionable decision.
“Flo hit me up and they say, ‘Can you do February?'” Jones recounted. “I was like, ‘No, I can’t do February because I’ll be helping Volkanovski. That’s going to take precedence over this match.'”
The crux of Jones’ accusation lies in what allegedly happened next. He claims that Flograppling decided to announce the match and sell tickets regardless of his unavailability. “Flo guys, you know, that will announce it anyway, will sell us tickets anyway. We get the people hyped and then we’ll just have you pull out,” Jones said, describing Flograppling’s alleged strategy.
Jones expressed his discomfort with this approach, stating, “I’m all right. Do it, do it. I might do everyone. That’s f**king f**king not a good idea, but they do that.”
This revelation raises serious questions about Flograppling’s business ethics and their responsibility to their audience. If true, it suggests that the platform knowingly promoted and sold tickets for an event that was unlikely to occur, potentially misleading their customers.
This is eerily similar to something they’ve done in the past, when Gordon Ryan had his stomach issue he informed them in a timely manner that he could not face Pena in the agreed upon time slot – instead of informing the ticket buyers they kept on promoting until the very last minute at which point they announced that Nicky Rod would be stepping in for Ryan.
The incident highlights the often complex and sometimes murky world of combat sports promotion, where hype and ticket sales can sometimes take precedence over transparency and athlete considerations. This deceptive business practice also leaves them liable for a class action lawsuit – something they might know a thing or two about.
FloSports settled a class action lawsuit related to its use of the Meta Pixel tracking tool on its website, agreeing to pay $2.625 million. The lawsuit accused FloSports of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by sharing users’ viewing data with Meta (formerly Facebook) without consent. This tracking allegedly disclosed information such as video titles and users’ Facebook IDs, potentially allowing for personal identification.
Although FloSports did not admit any wrongdoing, the settlement includes both financial compensation and operational changes. Affected users, who watched videos on the FloSports website between September 2020 and August 2023, were eligible to claim a share of the settlement. Additionally, FloSports agreed to cease using the Facebook Pixel on its site unless they secure VPPA-compliant consent from users.
As of now, Flograppling has not publicly responded to Jones’ allegations. The jiu-jitsu community will undoubtedly be watching closely for any further developments in this story, which could have significant implications for how events are promoted and reported in the sport.
