5 big takeaways from CJI 2
These are the five biggest takeaways from CJI 2, which took place on August 30-31, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The dust has settled on CJI 2. Almost exactly one year after the inaugural CJI captivated the grappling community with perhaps the most entertaining event in the sport’s history, CJI 2 delivered both highs and lows, plenty of controversy, and no shortage of talking points.
Led by standout performances from Nick Rodriguez and Victor Hugo, The B-Team walked away the winner of the team-based competition, albeit in somewhat contentious fashion. In the team final, the squad went head-to-head with their crosstown rival, Team New Wave. With neither team able to score a submission victory and the teams tied on the judges’ scorecards, the tie-breaker was determined on the basis of the final team to win a match, which was entirely consistent with the agreed-upon rules.
Still, because Team New Wave had won more individual matches, many fans felt that the wrong team won the $1 million prize. In a surprise move, tournament organizer Craig Jones then announced that both the B-Team and Team New Wave would be awarded $1 million.
Also, teen prodigy Helena Crevar solidified herself among the very top pound-for-pound grapplers on the planet with wins over Adele Fornarino and Sarah Galvao to win $100,000 – the largest cash prize in the history of women’s grappling.
Check out the full results from CJI 2 day 1 here and day 2 here. Below, we dive into the most significant takeaways from the event.
#1 The New Wave/B-Team rivalry is still alive… kind of
The team final between New Wave and B-Team had all the makings of a dramatic ending to a years-long rivalry that had been brewing ever since the Danaher Death Squad split up and formed two competing squads, each in Austin, Texas. The result, though, was surprisingly ambiguous and, in many ways, unsatisfying.
The B-Team undoubtedly deserved the win, and coach Damien Anderson explained that he strategized in accordance with how the tie-breaker rules had been explained. Still, New Wave won three of the five matches, and with both teams now winning a $1 million prize, it’s difficult to call one team a clear-cut winner.
While Gordon Ryan continues to go ballistic on social media, criticizing his own brother’s team and former training partners with post after post, the tension between New Wave and B-Team seems to be quietly fading away. Jones and John Danaher are on good terms. New Wave has transformed into Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu, while the B-Team will undergo rebranding of its own.
Considering that these two teams of elite grapplers still exist in the same city, tension will undoubtedly remain. Gordon Ryan shows no signs of letting anything go. However, with Jones out of the picture and the DDS breakup moving further and further into the rearview mirror, this rivalry is fizzling away, not with a bang but with a whimper.
#2 Helena Crevar and Sarah Galvao are just getting started
One rivalry might be coming to an end, but another one is only beginning. Helena Crevar employed her trademark leg lock game and aggressive submission hunting to take her place as a pound-for-pound powerhouse, submitting fellow young phenom Sarah Galvao with a beautiful Aoki lock in the final of the four-woman, $100,000 bracket.
Notably, this wasn’t the first time the two teens had met in competition. The pair first collided in the quarterfinals of the absolute division at the 2025 IBJJF Pans, where Galvao walked away with a thrilling points victory.
Crevar turning the tables at CJI 2 reminded fans just how closely matched these two are – and that they are each the future of the sport. Indeed, Galvao’s unforgettable and dominant win over reigning ADCC champion Ana Carolina Vieira on day 1 erased any doubt that she, at just 19 years old, belongs among the elite of the elite.
Fans can likely look forward to numerous other encounters between Crevar and Galvao in both gi and no-gi competition, and if their first two bouts were any indication, every subsequent match should deliver quality entertainment.
#3 Money talks
The first day of CJI 2 brought loads of anticipation but only a handful of submissions and a number of matches in which athletes seemed to be either cruising to a safe win or shelling up in pure defense. In an effort to inspire grapplers to throw caution to the wind and chase the submission at all costs, Craig Jones announced that any athlete who scored a submission during the team competition would instantly win a $50,000 bonus.
That incentive seemed to work. After just five submissions across four team duels on day 1, the same number of submissions occurred on day 2 across three team duels, with athletes like Luke Griffith, Felipe Pena, and Victor Hugo showing a serious sense of urgency to get the finish.
Of course, each grappler was already motivated to push his team to victory and the $1 million grand prize, but the added individual bonus certainly made a difference. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that money will always talk. And while there isn’t always much extra cash to go around in BJJ, other promotions should take note that the best way to incentivize action is with the pocketbook.
#4 Size matters
One of the most compelling aspects of any Quintet-style competition is the chance of a smaller grappler submitting a significantly larger opponent. None of that happened at CJI 2. In fact, the event drove home the point that size is a critical factor in grappling.
Of the 10 total submissions in the team event, half of them were earned by an athlete two weight classes above his opponent. Nick Rodriguez’s rear-naked choke win over Daisy Fresh’s Brandon Reed marked the only instance of a smaller athlete (99kg) submitting a larger (+99).
The size factor worked both ways, as well. Team Atos’ +99kg representative Felipe Pena was utterly exhausted after submitting New Wave’s Luke Griffith, but despite offering practically no effective offense against a 66kg Dorian Olivarez, he never once found himself in serious danger, constantly using his size and strength to ward off the young American’s onslaught of attacks.
While the David versus Goliath narrative remains alive and well in grappling’s openweight competitions, CJI 2 proved that much more often than not, the larger athlete holds a major advantage.
#5 CJI 2 was not BJJ’s breakout moment
Craig Jones found himself in a difficult spot ahead of CJI 2. Last year’s CJI 1 marked a turning point and arguably the most captivating two days of action ever seen in BJJ and submission grappling. CJI 2 brought plenty of hype and a unique format that Jones thought would guarantee excitement.
Despite his best efforts, CJI 2 drew criticism from fans disappointed in the matches, long, late-night airtime, and murky rules and judging. Admittedly, it would have been practically impossible to catch the lightning in a bottle that was CJI 1, but for many, CJI 2 felt like a let-down.
It’s also worth noting that ticket sales for CJI 2 were below expectations, with Jones having to sell the event’s streaming rights to FloGrappling to make up for the lower revenue. Considering that the event took place on the same weekend and in the same city as the IBJJF Masters Worlds and Jiu-Jitsu Con – the largest event in BJJ history – these low ticket sales are an indicator that CJI 2 simply wasn’t another breakout event for grappling.
Still, those lows shouldn’t necessarily outweigh the highs. The event drew massive viewership on YouTube, shattering the UFC BJJ live viewership by several magnitudes. Both Sarah Galvao and Helena Crevar delivered epic performances that elevated their own star power and women’s grappling overall. And, perhaps most importantly, two teams walked away with a massive, $1 million payday that will only serve to grow the sport in the long run.
