- Craig Jones announced CJI 3 is returning during a Q&A on the B-Team YouTube channel
- The million-dollar prize is gone — Jones admitted “I’m not good with finances, so don’t expect a million dollars again”
- He joked he wishes he “embezzled $7 million” instead of spending it on the first two events
- No date, venue, format, or participants have been confirmed yet
- Jones wants to recapture the “fever dream energy” of the original CJI 1
The Fever Dream Returns: Craig Jones Confirms CJI 3
The CJI 3 Craig Jones confirmed announcement came during a casual Q&A session on the B-Team channel — a classic B-Team Craig Jones Q&A moment. Jones confirmed that CJI 3 is in the works and that he wants to recapture the raw energy of the first event. The Craig Jones Invitational 3 marks the return of the most disruptive brand in professional grappling.
“It’s going back to the community,” Jones said. “As much as people want to complain, we did really well and the community is excited for it. I think the best is yet to come.”
The event will reportedly retain the distinctive arena setup that became a hallmark of the first two CJI editions — the slanted walls, the intimate atmosphere, and the production that made CJI 1 feel like “a fever dream,” in Jones’s own words.
The Million-Dollar Question
The biggest headline from the announcement is the prize money — or lack thereof. CJI 1 famously awarded $1 million each to Kade Ruotolo and Nicky Rodriguez in separate 16-man brackets. CJI 2 pivoted to a team format but still maintained significant payouts.
For CJI 3, that is changing. Jones was characteristically blunt about the financial reality:
“Obviously I’m not good with finances, so don’t expect a million dollars again, but expect something exciting to happen.”
The comment is a notable retreat from his earlier ambition. At one point, Jones floated the idea of a $10 million tournament featuring just eight competitors — a plan that now seems firmly off the table.
His joking remark that he wishes he “had embezzled $7 million into my bank account” instead of spending it on the events suggests that the first two CJI installments were significantly more expensive than anticipated.
Leaving The Million Behind
The “million-dollar prize” is apparently being left behind as Jones recalibrates the event’s financial model. Without the seven-figure headline, CJI 3 will need to rely on brand recognition and the reputation Jones has built over two events.
That reputation is not unblemished. CJI 1 was widely praised as a breakthrough event that challenged ADCC’s dominance in the sport. CJI 2, with its Quintet-style team format, received more mixed reviews — some fans were disappointed by tactical matches where teams avoided submissions to preserve energy for the overall win. The women’s open weight division was a bright spot, with Helena Crevar taking the $100,000 prize.
The Death Of CJI was Called Prematurely
Before the CJI 3 announcement, Moya Brand had published a piece titled “The Death of CJI: Why Craig Jones Walked Away and What Happens to BJJ Now” — a premature eulogy that speculated the event might not return. The article examined the challenges of sustaining a million-dollar grappling promotion and questioned whether Jones had the appetite to continue.
Jones’s confirmation of CJI 3 effectively answers that question. But the Moya analysis raises a valid point: CJI without the million-dollar prize is a different proposition. The event’s original selling point was the unprecedented purse. Without it, CJI 3 must compete on format, production, and athlete experience — all of which Jones has proven capable of delivering, but none of which have the marketing punch of seven-figure prize money.
What We Know And What We Don’t
The confirmed details are minimal. CJI 3 is happening. It will not have a million-dollar prize. Jones is working on something he describes as “exciting.” The arena setup and raw production style will likely return.
What remains unknown: the format (individual brackets or team competition), the weight classes, the prize structure, the venue, the date, and the participant list. The women’s division that debuted at CJI 2 — won by Helena Crevar — has not been confirmed for a return, though it would be a surprising omission given the positive reception.
Online speculation has ranged from a return to the individual bracket format that made CJI 1 successful, to a hybrid format that combines individual bouts with team scoring, to something entirely new. Jones has given no hints, and the BJJ community will likely have to wait for a formal announcement.
What CJI 3 Means For The Sport
The return of CJI is significant regardless of the prize money — and the CJI million dollar prize gone means the event now competes on reputation alone. The CJI 3 announcement date is unconfirmed beyond mid-2026, but the CJI vs ADCC grappling rivalry remains the biggest dynamic in the sport.
CJI 1 proved that professional Jiu-Jitsu could attract mainstream attention and pay athletes competitive purses. CJI 2 showed the format could evolve. CJI 3 will answer whether the event has staying power beyond the novelty of large paychecks.
For ADCC, CJI remains a direct competitor for athlete attention and streaming revenue. CJI 3 announcement timing — mid-2026 — suggests the event could take place either in late 2026 or early 2027, positioning it as either a lead-in or follow-up to ADCC 2027.
For the athletes, CJI 3 offers another high-profile platform for competition. Even without the million-dollar prize, CJI has established itself as a premium brand in grappling. The question is whether the reduced prize pool will affect the caliber of competitors willing to participate. Jones’s reputation and the event’s production value may be enough to maintain interest — but the field might look different without a life-changing payday on the line.
