In the aftermath of what was the most grappling-filled weekend in Las Vegas in the history of professional Jiu-Jitsu, we have a lot of things to process. Following two days of upsets, incredible performances and under-performances, and emerging talent, we come out the other end with the landscape of professional Jiu-Jitsu changed forever… or as long as Craig has powerful sponsors to back him up financially.
Some people in the BJJ world, athletes and fans alike, preferred the ADCC, while plenty flogged over to the new kid on the block, CJI to see if he was the cooler one to hang out with. Let’s go through the major lessons learned from last weekend, but don’t expect a verdict on CJI vs ADCC – that one is up for you to decide. Here’s all you need to know:
CJI vs ADCC – The Tale Of The Tape
ADCC a.k.a. the Abu Dhabi Combat Club started in 1998 as the premier No-Gi event often equated to the Olympics in terms of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It was the first (or one of the first) tournaments to invite only the best athletes in the world and give them a substantial sum for winning their division – $10.000.
The thing that sparked the formation of CJI as a response to the treatment that the ADCC has of athletes, was precisely the prize money. Fast forward to 2024, some 26 years later than the very first ADCC, and the prize money for the winning athletes never changed.
In a landscape of professional Jiu-Jitsu and god knows which inflation since the change of the century, simply put, 10K does not cut it any longer. Craig Jones called ADCC head organizer Mo Jassim on this multiple times and eventually opted to put together his own tournament creating the CJI vs ADCC rivalry.
The very first edition of the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) was held in Vegas last weekend (August 16 and 17, 2024) and it showed that it offered athletes a lot more than just a bigger cash prize compared to the ADCC.
CJI offered each athlete who opted to respond to the invitation a $10.001 sign-up prize, plus a staggering $1 million for the winner of each of the two divisions (-80 kg and +90 kg). After pouring out the cash at the JRE when he announced the tournament, everyone started asking where does the money come from?
Lots of rumors circulated, from Zuckerberg backing Craig to a crypto casino being behind the millions in cash prizes and all event-organizing expenses, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter.
I’ll leave the financing details to Chael to explain, but the undeniable truth is that Craig Jones just made a couple of high-level grapplers millionaires, changing BJJ forever.
What We Learned From the CJI vs ADCC Grappling Weekend in Vegas
The past weekend, apart from providing lots of material to break down and learn from for the BJJ nerds such as myself, even more entertainment for the casual BJJ fanatic watching, and a hope of reaching millionaire status for competitive grapplers worldwide, provided us with a lot to think about in terms of the state of the BJJ world after the CJI vs ADCC weekend:
Craig Took Professional Jiu-Jitsu to Anotaher Level
Like it or not, the CJI was just what we needed. Everyone that even thinks about becoming a professional grappler these days, has to consider the stark reality that BJJ is not a sport that pays well unless your first name is Gordon and last name is Ryan.
What Craig offered to the world is hope that grapplers can make lots of money doing what they love – performing on the mats. If the first CJI came out with a $1 million prize money, I expect future events to offer more and even host more divisions so that more athletes get a chance to really earn significantly from BJJ.
Ffion Davies is Scary Good!
The one thing I was incredibly impressed with was Ffion Davis‘ performance in her CJI super fight against Mackenzie Dern. I know that Dern’s focus is on MMA, but as a UFC fighter, and having won a UFC fight just 2 weeks prior, she is in great shape and has access to world-class training on a daily basis.
Ffion came out with an aggression that we used to associate with Dern, and relentlessly pushed until she not only took Mackenzie down and controlled her, but also got what was the best submission of the entire weekend for me – a Scorpion Death Lock!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO3b2XBLZRk
Gordon Looks Tired
Let’s switch over to the ADCC for a bit. Gordon Ryan only had two fights scheduled this time, with each coming on a different night. While not at all easy, as he battled last time’s winners Felipe Pena and Yuri Simoes, both fights saw Gordon gas out and struggle significantly.
Of course, we all know his stomach is giving him lots of trouble, and he revealed a torn LCL after winning both fights, but the King we saw at the 2024 ADCC is a far cry from the version that scared everyone two years ago when he manhandled Galvao.
This leads us to the inevitable question: is the GOAt done? And I don’t mean a mock retirement like a few years ago, but for real this time. The CJI vs ADCC did suggest who could follow in his footsteps.
Belts Don’t Really Matter Anymore
Yeah, we knew this already, but it really did reach another level at the ADCC. Allow colored belts to match up with black belts, and you’ll likely see a better match than coupling two black belts together.
We saw the perfect example of this in Meregali’s performance at the ADCC. The Danaher protege lost his match to purple belt Michael Pixley by way of submission (Darce choke). Granted, it seemed that Meregali injured his shoulder or elbow as he posted awkwardly during the throw that preceded the Darce, but that should not take anything away from Pixley.
In case you missed it with UFC and CJI, this huge upset is the biggest thing that happened on Day 1 of ADCC 2024.
Nicholas Meregali, the tournament favorite (and Gordon Ryan’s teammate), was thrown and darced by Michael Pixley.
— Anton Tabuena (@antontabuena) August 18, 2024
ADCC Will Have to Catch Up To CJI
Organization-wise, ADCC was a far cry from CJI. To begin with, the ADCC’s reluctance to deal with matches going out of bounds was hugely annoying, as opposed to CJI’s Karate Combat-like pit, which proved to be the best surface for professional grappling we’ve seen to date.
Also, we saw a lot of struggling with the ADCC announcement team, as they miscued matches, introduced athletes who weren’t on stage, and even ones who were competing at the CJI at the same time. There is more, but you get the winner in this CJI vs ADCC aspect.
CJI, on the other hand, had a great team led by commentator Brandon McCaghren that did the event justice, with the only real; remark being time management – day one went on for more than 10 hours, and it didn’t have to.
Unified Refereeing Rules
We saw a lot of chaos in terms of refereeing in the CJI vs ADCC weekend. While not leaving it in the hands of the judges sounds cool, it is a lot harder to put into practice than writing it on the wall of a gym.
This weekend felt like the early days of MMA when they attempted to apply a hybrid of the old boxing scoring system (which more or less is still in effect today). It is obvious that we need to unify the circumstances that lead to victory in submission-based events that end up going the distance.
Overtime always seemed like a good idea in EBI, but it didn’t turn out to be so great during the CJI vs ADCC weekend in Vegas.
You Can Make Millions From Jiu-Jitsu (Finally)
Yup, you can now decide to leave everything and dedicate yourself to grappling. of course, you’ll need to train your ass off, compete for a ton and hope that all those competitions end up rewarding you with some petty, ADCC-like prize money until you can reach the big stage.
Not for everyone, I know, but finally, we saw people win big by doing nothing except grapple and it is a dream come true for most people involved in BJJ, even though we didn’t win anything. After the CJI vs ADCC weekend, the future seems very bright!
Rafel Lovato is a True Highlander
Rafel Lovato Jr. cannot retire. He tried it, but it didn’t work, and we’re glad it didn’t stick. The legendary grappler came back for the 2024 edition of the ADCC after announcing his retirement two years prior in the same event.
Not only did he feature again, but he dominated. At the young age of 41 cruised through the -99kg division, eventually running into a wall called Kaynan Duarte in the final of the division. The timeless Lovato took home the silver, and I’m sure we’ll see him again although it remains to see who he chooses between CJI vs ADCC.
We’re Taking BJJ Too Seriously
The whole CJI vs ADCC thing was really comical to witness from the stands. While you had the seriousness of the ADCC on one side, with everyone acting like it was a major UFC event or something, on the other side was Craig Jones, trolling everything and everyone in every way possible, blending in laughs with all the action.
It was a very welcomed refreshment in terms of the aura we associate with professional BJJ. Grappling should be fun over anything, and it can only be fun if we don’t take it seriously. CJI managed to dial it in perfectly, making it seem like it was a jiu-Jitsu Globetrotter Camp event. I can’t imagine what the afterparty looked like.
Nicky Rod is a Force to be Reckoned With
The winner of the +80 kg division in CJI was B-team’s own Nicky Rod. Saying it is a deserved victory is an understatement, as Nicky seemed scary on his way to the $1 million bucks. He dismantled Owen Livesey and Max Gimenis quickly on day one, repeating the same with Adam Bradley and Fellipe Andrew on day 2 to win the coveted prize money.
Of course, he called out his nemesis Gordon Ryan at the end. To be honest, I’m not sure Gordon could’ve handled Nicky if they fought on the same event this time. Maybe in a CJI vs ADCC super fight someday.
What Happened to Nicky Ryan?
One worrying thing that stood out at CJI was the performance of Nicky Ryan. While most of the B-team performed well, even though some fan favorites like the up-and-coming Josef Chen didn’t get far, it was Nicky Ryan’s performance that stood out like a sore thumb.
Nicky looked like a guy who came over for a few rolls on the open mat and was surprised that a highly competitive wrestler wanted to go all out with him. Ryan lost to the highly impressive Andrew Tackett and left a huge question mark over his grappling future.
Who Will be The Next GOAT?
I firmly believe that if Gordon Ryan does not get healthy, the spot of the GOAT is going to be wide open, with many strong contenders coming out to claim it. The double gold (-99 kg and absolute division) winner of the ADCC, Kaynan Duarte is the leading name, of course, but Nicky Rod is not far behind.
We also have to mention Kade Ruotolo, the other millionaire after last weekend’s performance, as well as the emerging talents such as Andrew Tackett and Mica Galvao.
Best Match of the Weekend?
I’m going to go ahead and claim that the match between Kade Ruotolo and Andrew Tackett in the semi-final of the -80 kg divisions at CJI gets the match-of-the-weekend accolade. It was a grappling masterclass by two extremely talented athletes who, I’m in no doubt, will keep providing us with lots more grappling entertainment in times to come.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBtzcDu1Qts
Full CJI 1 Results
The full Day 1 of the CJI event streamed live on YouTube and you can watch the full 10+ hours here, or go on to read the results:
Over 80kg First Round:
- Nicky Rod defeated Max Gimenis via submission (rear-naked choke).
- Owen Livesey defeated Mahamed Aly via unanimous decision.
- Adam Bradley defeated Kyle Boehm via split decision.
- Pat Downey defeated Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision.
- Lucas Kanard defeated Victor Hugo via submission.
Over 80kg Quarterfinals:
- Nicky Rod defeated Owen Livesey via submission (rear-naked choke).
- Adam Bradley defeated Pat Downey via split decision.
- Inacio Santos defeated Lucas Kanard via unanimous decision.
- Fellipe Andrew defeated Joao Gabriel Rocha via unanimous decision.
Over 80kg Semifinals:
- Nicky Rod defeated Adam Bradley via submission (rear-naked choke).
- Fellipe Andrew defeated Inacio Santos via submission (heel hook).
Over 80kg Finals:
- Nicky Rod defeated Fellipe Andrew by submission (RNC)
Under 80kg First round:
- Tye Ruotolo defeated Jason Nolf via submission (kneebar).
- Levi Jones-Leary defeated Roberto Jimenez via submission (inside heel hook).
- Lucas Barbosa defeated Kenta Iwamoto via unanimous decision.
- Jozef Chen defeated Andy Varela via unanimous decision.
- Kade Ruotolo defeated Matheus Diniz via submission (ankle lock).
- Tommy Langaker defeated Renato Canuto via unanimous decision.
- Eoghan O’Flanagan defeated Magid Hage via submission (outside heel hook).
- Andrew Tackett defeated Nicky Ryan via unanimous decision.
Under 80kg Quarterfinals:
- Levi Jones-Leary defeated Tye Ruotolo via unanimous decision.
- Lucas Barbosa defeated Jozef Chen via submission (knee crush).
- Kade Ruotolo defeated Tommy Langaker via unanimous decision.
- Andrew Tackett defeated Eoghan O’Flanagan via unanimous decision.
Under 80kg Semifinals
- Levi Jones-Leary defeated Lucas Barbosa via unanimous decision.
- Kade Ruotolo defeated Andrew Tackett via split decision.
Under 80kg Final
Kade Ruotolo defeated Levi Jones-Leary by unanimous decision.
Superfights
- Ffion Davies def. Mackenzie Dern via sub (armbar)
- Craig Jones def. Gabi Garcia via sub (rear-naked choke)
Full 2024 ADCC Absolute Divisions Results
During the CJI vs ADCC, things were busy at the ADCC, although the lineup was quite different from what people expected before Craig announced his own tournament:
Men’s Absolute Round 1
- Declan Moody defeated Diogo Reis by submission.
- Kaynan Duarte defeated Diego Pato by submission.
- Mica Galvao defeated Elder Cruz by submission.
- Dante Leon defeated Michael Perez by a referee’s decision.
- Giancarlo Bodoni defeated Davi Ramos by a decision.
- Fabricio Andrey defeated Vagner Rocha by a referee’s decision.
- Roberto Abreu defeated Luiz Paulo by a decision.
- Ryan Aitken defeated Izaak Michell by a decision.
Quarterfinals
- Kyanan Duarte defeated Declan Moody by submission.
- Dante Leon defeated Mica Galvao by submission.
- Giancarlo Bodoni defeated Vagner Rocha by submission.
- Cyborg Abreu defeated Izaak Michell by a decision.
Semifinals
- Kaynan Duarte defeated Dante Leon by decision.
Cyborg Abreu defeated Giancarlo Bodoni by decision.
Final
- Kaynan Duarte defeated Cyborg Abreu by submission.
Women’s Absolute Quarterfinals:
- Adele Fornarino defeated Brianna Ste-marie by submission.
- Rafaela Guedes defeated Bianca Basilio by decision.
- Amy Campo defeated Amande Leve by decision.
- Bia Mesquita defeated Kendall Reusing by submission.
Semifinals
- Adele Fornarino defeated Rafaela Guedes by submission.
Bia Mesquita defeated Amy Campo by a decesion.
Final
- Adele Fornarino defeated Bia Mesquita by a decision.
Full List Of ADCC 2024 Champions
Who won the ADCC in the 2024 edition? While there is a winner in the CJI vs ADCC debate, the athletes who fought their way to the top in this year’s ADCC are as follows:
Men’s Divisions:
-66kg
Diogo “Baby Shark” Reis – Gold
Diego Pato – Silver
Josh Cisneros – Bronze
-77kg
Mica Galvao – Gold
Vagner Rocha – Silver
PJ Barch – Bronze
-88kg
Giancarlo Bodoni – Gold
Jay Rodriguez – Silver
Felipe Costa – Bronze
-99kg
Kaynan Duarte – Gold
Rafael Lovato – Silver
Cyborg Abreu – Bronze
+99kg
Felipe Pena – Gold
Luke Griffith – Silver
Daniel Manasoiu – Bronze
Women’s Divisions:
-55kg
Adele Fornarino – Gold
Bianca Basilio – Silver
Jasmine Rocha – Bronze
-65kg
Ana Carolina Vieira – Gold
Helena Crevar – Silver
Bia Mesquita – Bronze
+65kg
Rafaela Guedes – Gold
Nathiely De Jesus – Silver
Kendall Reusing – Bronze
Super Fight Day 1
Gordon Ryan – Gold
Super Fight Day 2
Gordon Ryan – Gold
What’s Next?
As we conclude our analysis of the CJI vs ADCC weekend in Vegas, we are left switch lots of information to process. Professional Jiu-Jitsu just got a taste of what athletes earn in other sports, and I doubt those who took part will want to go back to how it was.
I understand allegiances and history, but in all honesty, the CJI vs ADCC weekend showed us that money talks, and that there are ways to turn professional grappling into a spectator sport. Whether it is going to take years of CJI vs ADCC rivalry, or they’re going to suddenly merge into the best platform ever, remains for the future to uncover.
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