Craig Jones Invitational
Grappling competitions
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The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) is an international submission grappling tournament organized by Craig Jones.
- Men
- +80 kg
- -80 kg
- Women
| Competition details | |
|---|---|
| Discipline | Submission grappling |
| Type | Yearly |
| Organiser | Craig Jones |
| Divisions | |
| Current weight divisions |
|
| History | |
| First winner | Nick Rodriguez (over 80kg) Kade Ruotolo (under 80kg) Helena Crevar (openweight) |
The inaugural tournament was held August 16–17, 2024 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States.[1][2] The event was streamed live on YouTube for free.[3] Craig Jones defeated Gabi Garcia in an intergender superfight, Nick Rodriguez won the 80kg+ division tournament, and Kade Ruotolo won the −80kg division tournament. The tournament winners in each weight division received $1 million prize money.
The Craig Jones Invitational 2 (CJI 2) was held August 30–31, 2025, returning to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.[4] CJI 2 featured a $1 million team-based grappling tournament won by The B-Team, an openweight $100,000 women's tournament won by Helena Crevar, and a non-tournament superfight which saw Craig Jones defeat Chael Sonnen. The B-Team and Team New Wave initially fought to a draw in the team tournament final before The B-Team were declared the winners by decision; after controversy over the decision, both teams were to be awarded $1 million but Team New Wave were ultimately not given the prize money.[5]
2024
Background
Craig Jones from B-Team Jiu-Jitsu is a two-time ADCC silver medalist. Disappointed with athlete pay at ADCC, he decided to host a tournament in which all invited athletes receive a higher minimum payout ($10,001) than the male winner of ADCC ($10,000).[6]
The two men's divisions scheduled for the 2024 tournament were under 80kg and over 80kg, and the winner of each bracket was to be awarded $1 million. Each men's division bracket had 16 competitors. Each participant received $10,001 for competing.[7]
On JRE MMA Show No. 157, an episode of Joe Rogan's podcast, Jones brought $1 million in cash to promote the tournament.[8]
A best submission bonus of $50,000 was announced.[9]
The dates and location were selected to overlap with ADCC 2024, which was held August 17–18, 2024 in Las Vegas.
Separate from the men's divisions, Craig Jones was scheduled to face Gabi Garcia in an intergender superfight, and Ffion Davies was scheduled to fight Mackenzie Dern in the women's superfight.[10] A superfight with Mikey Musumeci was also announced,[11] but ultimately did not occur due to a lack of a contractual agreement with Musumeci's planned opponent.[12] Mason Fowler was scheduled to fight in the over 80kg bracket but later withdrew from the competition due to injury.[13][14]
Results
Over 80kg tournament
| First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nick Rodriguez |
Nick Rodriguez |
Nick Rodriguez |
Nick Rodriguez |
Nick Rodriguez |
 Max Gimenis | ||||
 Owen Livesey |
Owen Livesey | |||
| Mahamed Aly | ||||
| Adam Bradley |
Adam Bradley |
Adam Bradley | ||
| Kyle Boehm | ||||
| Luke Rockhold |
Pat Downey | |||
| Pat Downey | ||||
| Victor Hugo |
 Lucas Kanard |
Inacio Santos |
Fellipe Andrew | |
| Lucas Kanard | ||||
| Inacio Santos |
Inacio Santos | |||
| Pedro Alex | ||||
| Daniel Greg Kerkvliet |
Fellipe Andrew |
Fellipe Andrew | ||
| Fellipe Andrew | ||||
| Joao Gabriel Rocha |
Joao Gabriel Rocha | |||
| William Tackett | ||||
Under 80kg tournament
| First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tye Ruotolo |
Tye Ruotolo |
Levi Jones-Leary |
Levi Jones-Leary |
Kade Ruotolo |
| Jason Nolf | ||||
 Roberto Jimenez |
Levi Jones-Leary | |||
| Levi Jones-Leary | ||||
| Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa |
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa |
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa | ||
 Kenta Iwamoto | ||||
 Jozef Chen |
Jozef Chen | |||
| Andy Varela | ||||
| Kade Ruotolo |
Kade Ruotolo |
Kade Ruotolo |
Kade Ruotolo | |
| Matheus Diniz | ||||
| Renato Canuto |
 Tommy Langaker | |||
| Tommy Langaker | ||||
| Magid Hage |
Eoghan O’Flanagan |
Andrew Tackett | ||
| Eoghan O’Flanagan | ||||
| Andrew Tackett |
Andrew Tackett | |||
| Nicky Ryan |
Superfights
Reception
The event raised $500,000 for Tap Cancer Out charity.[20] The event's free YouTube stream was seen by over 100,000 concurrent viewers on both days of competition.[21]
The Craig Jones Invitational won both the Promotion of the Year and Fight Card of the Year awards at the 2024 Jits Magazine BJJ Awards. Kade Ruotolo vs. Andrew Tackett from the event's −80kg tournament won Jits Magazine's Match of the Year award.[22]
2025
Background
On December 8, 2024, Craig Jones announced a second Craig Jones Invitational tournament to be held in August 2025, with the 2025 tournament adopting a Quintet-inspired team format.[4] The event streamed live for free on the FloGrappling YouTube channel.
The Craig Jones Invitational 2 (CJI 2) was held August 30-31, 2025 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. CJI 2 was a two-day event, featuring an eight team tournament, an openweight women's tournament, and a superfight between Jones and Chael Sonnen (replacing an injured Gable Steveson). A total of 46 athletes were scheduled to compete at the event.
Teams in the $1 million team-based grappling tournament consisted of five grapplers, each representing a different weight class. Eight teams of five athletes competed; participating teams were: Team 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, The B-Team, Team New Wave, Team Atos, Team Europe, Team Pedigo Submission Fighting, Team Americas, and Team Australasia.
The $100,000 four-woman tournament featured: Helena Crevar (Polaris and WNO Champion), Adele Fornarino (2024 ADCC double gold medalist), Ana Vieira (2024 ADCC Champion, 6x IBJJF World Champ), and Sarah Galvão (2025 IBJJF Grand Slam Winner).[23]
Gable Steveson later claimed that he withdrew from the event not because of an injury but rather because Jones asked him to throw their superfight.[24] Jones denied Steveson's claims,[24] with Jones alleging that Steveson's withdrawal was orchestrated by the UFC as an attempt to interfere with CJI2.[25]
Teams
Coaches
Team New Wave: John Danaher
Team Americas: Greg Souders
Team Atos: André Galvão
Team Europe: Faris Benlamkadem- The B-Team: Nicky Ryan
- Team Pedigo Submission Fighting: Heath Pedigo
- Team 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu: Eddie Bravo
Team Australasia: Lachlan Giles
Athletes
- Team New Wave
- Dorian Olivarez
- Micael Galvão
- Vagner Rocha
- Giancarlo Bodoni
Luke Griffith
- Team Americas
- Gavin Corbe
- Deandre Corbe
- Elijah Dorsey
Taylor Pearman- Pat Downey
- Team Atos
- Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira
- Ronaldo Junior
- Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa
- Kaynan Duarte
- Felipe Pena
- Team Europe
- Owen Jones
Pawel Jaworski
Paul Ardila- Charles Negromonte
- Marcin Maciulewicz
- The B-Team
Ethan Crelinsten- Jozef Chen
- Chris Wojcik
- Nick Rodriguez
- Victor Hugo
- Team Pedigo Submission Fighting
- Max Hanson
- Dante Leon
- Jacob Couch
- Michael Pixley
- Brandon Reed
- Team 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu
- Geo Martinez
- Alan Sanchez
- PJ Barch
- Ryan Aitken
- Kyle Boehm
- Team Australasia
- Fabricio Andrey
Kenta Iwamoto- Lucas Kanard
- Declan Moody
Belal Etiabari
Results
Team tournament
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Team New Wave
| ||||||||||||||
 Team Americas
| ||||||||||||||
| Team New Wave
| ||||||||||||||
| Team Atos
| ||||||||||||||
| Team Atos
| ||||||||||||||
 Team Europe
| ||||||||||||||
| Team New Wave
| ||||||||||||||
| The B-Team
| ||||||||||||||
| The B-Team
| ||||||||||||||
| Team Pedigo Submission Fighting
| ||||||||||||||
| Team Australasia
| ||||||||||||||
| The B-Team
| ||||||||||||||
| Team 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu
| ||||||||||||||
| Team Australasia
| ||||||||||||||
Women's tournament
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Helena Crevar
| |||||||||
| Adele Fornarino
| |||||||||
| Helena Crevar
| |||||||||
| Sarah Galvão
| |||||||||
| Ana Vieira
| |||||||||
| Sarah Galvão
| |||||||||
Superfight
Reception
Night 1 of the event was criticized for a lack of action, with UFC BJJ athlete Mikey Musumeci declaring the event's team format as "boring".[29]
The Craig Jones Invitational 2 itself won the Fight Card of the Year award at the 2025 Jits Magazine BJJ Awards,[30] while Sarah Galvão vs. Ana Vieira from the event's openweight women's tournament won Jits Magazine's Match of the Year award.[30]