Craig Jones says former UFC fighter is set to grapple Judo Black belt Owen Livesey in UK
Craig Jones recently shared that former UFC middleweight title contender Yoel Romero is set to take on Judo black belt Owen Livesey in the UK. Romero is known as one of the best athletes the sport has ever seen, and whilst he may be 47 years old, he looks anything but that.
He competed in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, representing Cuba in wrestling, where he won a silver medal in the 2000 edition. To go along with that, he has won three Wrestling World Cup gold medals as well as one gold medal at the Wrestling World Championships.
His opponent, Livesey, is an accomplished grappler in his own right, having won a gold medal for Judo at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a gold medal at the 2022 Judo World Championships.
During Jones' recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, the pair discussed Romero's incredible physical ability, where the Australian shared news of his clash with Livesey.
He said this:
"He's grappling, he's taking a grappling match in Britain against a grappler, Owen Livesey."
Rogan responded with this:
"Owen's a beast. That's very interesting... Yoel was one of the very best Cuban wrestlers ever. He's a f**king tank... He's a monster."
Watch Craig Jones and Joe Rogan discuss Yoel Romero below from 1:29:30:
Former UFC champion enters the Craig Jones Invitational
The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), a submission grappling tournament recently created by the Australian grappler, has taken the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world by storm. The CJI will take place on the same weekend as BJJ's most prestigious tournament, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, which happens every two years.
ADCC 2024 is set to happen on 17-18 August, whilst the CJI will happen on 16-17 August. Having won silver medals at two previous editions of ADCC, Jones' announcement last month that he would not be competing at the 2024 edition took fans by surprise.
He cited a lack of financial benefit as the main motivation for his decision. Instead, he chose to create a tournament of his own where the winner of each weight category wins $1 million. There will be two weight categories - under 80 kilograms and over 80 kilograms.
In a recent announcement, it has been confirmed that former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is set to compete in the +80 kg category. Jones posted this on his Instagram page:
"Luke Rockhold confirmed +80kg"
See Craig Jones' post below: