"I’m a god damn karate guy” - Craig Jones appears to rule out ADCC 2024 World Champs due to lack of financial benefit
Craig Jones is one of the biggest names in the sport of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but it doesn't look like he will feature in the sport's biggest tournament, which takes place later this year.
The Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, which are held every two years, will take place in August at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Having won a silver medal (99 kg) at the 2022 edition of the competition, one would have assumed that Jones would compete in this year's tournament.
According to the Australian's latest Reddit post, however, he indicated that he won't be featuring at ADCC 2024. The 33 year old highlighted the lack of financial benefits as his primary reason for opting out of this year's edition.
A fan posted the following question to the BJJ sub-reddit, writing this:
"Did Craig Jones make a decision on ADCC? I thought I heard that he needed to take the invite by the end of March. Has he given an indication at this point if he's going to compete?"
Jones, whose username is johnbelushismom, responded by writing this:
"Guys, call me crazy but Thomas and Mack Centre is 20k capacity for audience and [T-Mobile Arena] is 20k [capacity]. T-Mobile costs $2 million to rent and Thomas and Mack much cheaper. I think we the athletes deserve to be paid more than the guys that hit the drums. I ain't doing ADCC. I'm a god damn karate guy."
See the thread below:
Jones recently released a video on YouTube where he criticized the prize money for winning ADCC. The Australian pointed out that despite the exponential increase in the popularity of the competition, the prize money has remained the same since he first competed in 2015.
Click here to watch Jones' video.
Craig Jones set to face Russian UFC fighter in Dubai in April in grappling match
Craig Jones is set to make a second appearance as part of Karate Combat's new submission grappling format - the Pit Submission Series. The Australian made his debut earlier this year when he took on UFC welterweight Philip Rowe, whom he submitted with a spectacular flying triangle.
Jones will face off against another UFC welterweight in Dubai, when he takes on Rinat Fakhetdinov in the main event of Pit Submission Series 4 on April 20th.
Given the Australian's comments about being a "karate guy" when discussing his potential ADCC appearance in 2024, it's likely that Jones will receive a good fight purse for competing in Dubai later this month.
See Craig Jones' Instagram post below: