Craig Jones Invitational: Full Results, Recap & More

The Craig Jones Invitational, or CJI for short, was a Jiu Jitsu tournament held on August 16th and 17th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This event is a competitor to the prestigious ADCC (Abu Dabhi Combat Combat Club) tournament, and was intentionally held on the same weekend and in the same city. CJI took place at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center, while ADCC took place at the T-Mobile Arena.

Craig Jones launched the CJI as a way to push back at ADCC for failing to increase athlete pay in the 20+ years since their tournament first started. In the most recent ADCC event, over 10,000 tickets were sold and production value was off the charts (many athletes would say, needlessly) with Bruce Buffer, drummers, a fire show, and other antics not directly related to the competition.

We took the Gold BJJ squad out to Vegas and hit both CJI and ADCC. Here's our take on both events... the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Both events were a success. But in our opinion, CJI massively exceeded expectations and provided a very welcome shakeup in the grappling world.

CJI Highlights:

Overall just a way more fun vibe, extremely high energy the entire time. Smaller venue felt more intimate and like one massive grappling party.
Kade Ruotolo vs Andrew Tackett (absolute must watch!!!)
Gabi vs Craig was fun and heartwarming. The crowd really rallied behind Gabi, who missed her ADCC Hall of Fame to participate in CJI
"The Pit" was a great way to keep action going and reduce referee intervention
Nicky Rod's 4/4 submission performance to win $1 million was incredible

CJI Lowlights:

VIP area was a bit of a mess due to lack of assigned seating.

ADCC Highlights:

Big Dan, a Gold BJJ athlete, took 3rd place in the 99kg+ division! He had an incredible performance and looked great in his new Wave no-gi kit.
Atos athletes Kaynan Duarte and Adele Fornarino had absolutely dominant performances that were super exciting to watch.
T Mobile Arena is definitely a super polished and incredible venue.

ADCC Lowlights:

Felt more like a professional sporting event than CJI, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. The huge and very nice T Mobile Arena wasn't very full and just seemed a little lifeless.
Constant referee intervention and resets made matches feel slow compared to CJI's pit walls. Stalling calls were very minimal and athletes faced no penalties for backing out of bounds over and over.
Gordon Ryan superfights (one of which he was allowed to make up a medal for, against an opponent who fought twice earlier in the day) were a snoozefest.
Unorganized judging/reffing. Refs were constantly talking with the judging panel rather than watching the match, which felt like too many cooks in the kitchen. PJ Barch losing to Mica Galvao in the 77kg- semifinals was an incredible robbery.

Both events were fun and worthwhile, and this was the most exciting weekend of grappling we've ever seen. Hopefully ADCC can take a few things away from what went well at CJI and we can have a similarly epic set of events in 2026!

CJI Results

Here are the complete results of the 2024 Craig Jones Invitational:

Over 80kg semifinals:
Nicky Rod def. Adam Bradley via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 3, 3:12
Fellipe Andrew def. Inacio Santos via submission (heel hook) — Round 2, 4:39

Under 80kg semifinals:
Levi Jones-Leary vs. Lucas Barbosa via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 30-26)
Kade Ruotolo def. Andrew Tackett via split decision (29-27, 27-29, 29-28)

Superfights
Ffion Davies def. Mackenzie Dern via sub (armbar) (R2, 0:44)
Craig Jones def. Gabi Garcia via sub (rear-naked choke) (R2, 4:39)

Over 80kg final:
Nicky Rod def. Fellipe Andrew via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 1:32

Under 80kg final:
Kade Ruotolo def. Levi Jones-Leary via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)

CJI vs ADCC: Athlete Pay

ADCC pays the following places:

Men's Divisions 1st place: $10,000
Men's Divisions 2nd place: $5,000
Men's Divisions 3rd place: $3,000
Men's Divisions 4th place: $1,000
Women's Divisions 1st place: $6,000
Women's Divisions 2nd place: $3,000
Women's Divisions 3rd place: $2,000
Women's Divisions 4th place: $1,000
Superfight Winner: $40,000
Superfight Loser: $10,000

along with a couple of small (less than a few thousand dollars each) bonuses for things like the best takedown. Overall the prize pool is generally a little under $250,000.

CJI pays the following places:

All tournament competitors: $10,001
Men's Division winners: $1,000,000

So it's no surprise that many athletes are jumping ship from ADCC to compete in Craig Jones' new event.

Who's Behind CJI?

Craig Jones is obviously the face of the Craig Jones invitational, but who's putting up the money?

That's something Craig has been very cagey about. He brought $1,000,000 in cash onto the Joe Rogan show to prove he is serious, but he's not revealing who is ponying up the money for the event. He will only say that he and is business partner Seth Belisle (B-Team co-owner) are organizing the tournament.

CJI Competitors and Brackets

Here's a list of competitors who competed in the 2024 Craig Jones Invitational.

Under 80kg:

Over 80kg:

and here are the final brackets for both under 80kg and over 80kg:

Superfights:

Ffion Davies vs Mackenzie Dern
Gabi Garcia vs Craig Jones
~~Mikey Musumeci vs ???~~ (CANCELLED)

Some of these are absolutely massive names, who gave up their ADCC spots to participate in CJI.

CJI Schedule and Start Times

The Craig Jones Invitational took place over 2 days in Las Vegas, Nevada. The venue is the Thomas and Mack Center. Here was the schedule:

Day 1: Friday, August 16th

Doors open at 2:00pm PT
Matches start at 3:00pm PT (and will likely continue until after midnight)

Day 2: Saturday, August 17th

Doors open at 4:00pm PT
Matches start at 5:00pm PT

CJI Rules and Format

The Craig Jones Invitiational ruleset has been released! Download a full PDF of the rules here.

Matches will take place in a Karate Combat style "pit" with raised walls.

The idea behind this is that it will allow for less referee intervention, keep athletes safe, and punish athletes for backing away instead of creating action. Here are the complete rules for this event"

Time Limits

The regular time limit rules apply for all matches except for the finals. Separate rules
apply for the finals in each bracket.
1. Regular time limits
• 3 rounds of 5 minutes
• 1 minute rest in-between rounds
2. Time limits for finals
• 5 rounds of 5 minutes + 5 minutes of overtime if points are drawn after
round 5 (multiple rounds until one athlete is up on points)
• 1 minute rest in-between rounds

Legal Techniques

• All chokes except using the hand to close the windpipe.
• Any arm bar, shoulder lock, or wrist lock
• Any Leg Lock or Ankle Lock
• Can Opener is allowed.
• Twister is allowed.
• Full Nelson is allowed.

Illegal Techniques

• Slamming is allowed only if you are locked in a submission. If your opponent lets
go of the submission before you begin the slam, you must let go and abort the
slam.
• No spiking your opponent on their head.
• No striking of any kind
• No eye gouging or fish hooking
• No grabbing the ears
• No hair pulling.
• No holding of less than four fingers or toes.
• No thumbing.
• No scratching, pinching, or biting.
• No squeezing or putting pressure on the groin area.
• No knees or elbows to the face.
• No slippery substances allowed on body or clothing.
• No holding of rashguards or shorts.

Referee and Judges

• Judges will have indicators to signal the referee when they feel:
i. Warning should be given
ii. Stalling should be enforced
iii. Referee will take judge’s notce into consideration but will retain sole
discretion on call and enforcement of Warnings and Stalling penalty.
• Referee, following a warning notification, can enforce a stalling penalty. In their
sole discretion, referee may:
• Apply a negative point
• Apply a negative point and reset the position

Scoring

1. General Scoring Criteria

Rounds will be judged individually on a 10-Point Must System. Under the 10-Point Must Scoring System, 10 points must be awarded to the winner of the round and 9 points or less must be awarded to the loser. A submission always leads to an immediate win of the entire match.

In all matches except for the final round of each division: If both athletes end up with the same score (e.g. 28-28), the athlete who won the third round will be determined the winner. In case of a draw in the final rounds, the match will continue in overtime.

The following criteria shall be utilized by the judges when scoring a round:
a. A round is to be scored as a 10-9 round when an athlete wins by a close
margin.
b. A round is to be scored as a 10-8 round when an athlete is overwhelmingly
dominant throughout the round.
c. A round is to be scored a 10-7 round when an athlete totally dominates
throughout the round and almost finishes the opponent.
JUDGING CRITERIA RANKED
I. INITIATING ACTION – the highest reward is for initiating action. Attempting
takedowns, guard pass, sweeps, submissions, etc. Judges will give the highest
reward to the competitor who is aggressive, the one starting the action and
attacking that leads to scrambles.
II. CLOSE SUBMISSIONS & DYNAMIC ACTION – Dynamic Action is takedowns,
sweeps, passes, etc. After initiating action, progressing through control and
position to sub attempts weighs heavy on judges.
III. POSITIONAL CONTROL/DOMINANT CONTROL – This is the last factor. If all else
is equal, the competitor who controlled the match positionally or dictated the
pace of the match will be rewarded.

Penalties

A. Stalling and Passivity
• Stalling and passivity will be determined by the referee when one athlete is
purposely slowing the pace, aggression, or flow of the match with no
apparent strategy to progress, move to a more dominant position or set up a
submission.
a. Stalling can be called from ANY position (including front or backmounted
positions, as well as all defensive positions) if the referee determines
there is no attempt to progress to submission, escape a pinned position
or stay active.
b. Passivity can be defined as an athlete who avoids contact or engagement
with their opponent.
• When referee determines an athlete is stalling:
a. Referee will announce “Stalling Warning” to the athlete.
b. If the athlete does not make an attempt to initiate action shortly after
receiving the warning, a point will be deducted.
• Stalling will be enforced if any part of an athlete’s back is touching the ground
for more than 3 seconds without any connection to the opponent.
• A fighter cannot flee or run from a guard pull, they must defend, break or
engage the position. Fleeing or running from engagement or an attack counts
as stalling.
• If an athlete’s hands or feet touch the top of the pit, the athlete will be
penalized by a warning, and, if offense is repeated, by a point deduction.

Point Deduction

• If a point is being deducted for stalling:
i. The referee shall call timeout.
ii. The referee shall order the ohending athlete to a neutral location.
iii. The referee shall then inform the corners and the judges of the point being
deduced.
iv. The referee shall reset the athletes in a neutral position (standing without
connection).
• If an athlete uses an illegal technique and renders the opponent injured or
otherwise unable to continue fighting immediately:
i. The referee shall call timeout.
ii. The referee shall order the ohending athlete to a neutral location.
iii. The referee shall allow the injured athlete up to 5 minutes to recover from
the foul.
iv. The referee shall then determine whether the foul was intentional. If he
deems the foul to be intentional, the referee shall deduce a point and
inform the corners and the judges of the point deduction.
v. If the injured athlete is able to continue within or after 5 minutes, the
referee shall reset the athletes in the same position they were in before
the foul occurred.
vi. If the injured athlete is unable to continue within or after 5 minutes, the
referee may decide, based on the severity of the foul,
a. To disqualify the ohending athlete
b. To discontinue the match and decide a winner based on the
current scorecards. Incomplete rounds should be scored utilizing
the same criteria as the scoring of other rounds up to the point
said incomplete round is stopped.
• If an athlete intentionally uses an illegal technique and the opponent is not
injured or otherwise unable to continue fighting immediately:
i. The referee shall notify the ohending athlete of the foul.
ii. The referee shall then determine whether the foul was intentional. If he
deems foul to be intentional, the referee shall let the match continue and
inform the corners and judges of the point deduction after the round.

Weight Classes and Other Rules

Despite having a wide variety of competitors including MMA fighters and elite college wrestlers, at its core the Craig Jones Invitational is a No-Gi Jiu Jitsu event. However, unlike traditional Jiu Jitsu match scoring, CJI will be using a scoring system similar to MMA with multiple rounds where the winner receives a 10-9 score (or potentially a 10-8 or even 10-7 score in the case of a particularly dominant round).

Athletes are divided into two divisions based on weight - over 80kg and under 80kg - with no subdivisions based on belt rank.

The overall vibe of CJI is innovative (with the pit and MMA style scoring) but laid back. While you probably won't see anyone rolling into the arena in a gi, t-shirt afficionado Magid Hage did confirm he could compete in his usual outfit:

How To Buy Tickets for CJI

Tickets are now on sale for the event, you can pick them up on the UNLV Tickets website.

The "Gordon Ryan's Miata" Giveaway

A few years ago, Gordon Ryan (who will be competing at ADCC and not CJI) did a big splashy giveaway of his Mazda Miata. It was kind of a shitshow and the giveaway took forever, but he did eventually give the car away.

Well, Craig Jones tracked down the new owner of the Miata and bought it... to do his own "Gordony Ryan's Miata" giveaway. The level of trolling here is off the charts. Check out the video announcement here.