Gordon Ryan at the Craig Jones Invitational? The Australian answers if he’d let ‘The King’ compete at the CJI
The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) is the talk of the town in Brazilian jiu-jitsu right now. The newly created tournament rivaled the sport's most prestigious event and stirred up controversy.
The Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, currently the biggest submission grappling competition in the world, takes place every two years. The 2024 edition is scheduled for August 17-18.
But the CJI is set for the 16-17 of August, and despite its recent inception, the whopping $1 million prize for 1st place has seen many grapplers who were set to compete at ADCC 2024 jump ship in search of a career-high payday.
With Gordon Ryan currently the most accomplished ADCC competitor of all time and his beef with Jones being abundantly clear, the Australian was recently asked if he'd allow 'The King' to compete at the CJI.
The former 2x ADCC silver medalist was recently interviewed by podcaster Chris Williamson, where he said this:
"I'd let anyone do it. Obviously I've got the custom-gold Craig Jones Invitational ring he'd have to kiss, but for sure I'd let him in."
Watch the interview below:
Former UFC champion to take part in Craig Jones Invitational
Craig Jones' new submission grappling tournament, the CJI, will host two 16-man weight divisions and several super fights over a weekend in August.
Last month, he announced that he would not be competing at ADCC 2024 and highlighted the lack of financial compensation as his main reason for opting out of the tournament.
The divisions are over 80 kilograms and under 80 kilograms, and as per the Australian's Instagram, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is set to compete in the +80kg division.
Rockhold is an accomplished grappler, having competed in several submission grappling matches throughout his combat sports career.
With a number of the best submission grapplers in the world scheduled to take part at the CJI, including Nicky Rodriguez, who has faced Rockhold on the mats before, it will be fascinating to see how the former UFC champion holds up.
Jones recently took to Instagram to announce the following:
"Luke Rockhold confirmed +80kg."
See Craig Jones' post below: