Craig Jones plans seminar to benefit unpaid ADCC athletes
Craig Jones has announced plans to hold a seminar to benefit ADCC competitors who will receive no prize money.
In recent weeks, top no-gi competitor Craig Jones has been a vocal critic of the ADCC’s low prize money. He is now doing something about it.
Over the weekend, the Australian fan-favorite announced plans to hold a seminar and give all proceeds to ADCC competitors who lose in the tournament’s first day. These athletes would otherwise not receive any prize money.
Jones posted about the seminar on Instagram.
As he explains in the video above, he aims to hold the seminar on the Thursday prior to the 2024 ADCC World Championships, slated to go down in Las Vegas on August 17-18.
One of the most popular athletes in the sport, Jones can demand a relatively high price for a seminar and still expect a sell-out.
A two-time ADCC silver medalist, Jones had secured an invite to the 2024 ADCC World Championships but has turned down that invite, citing the ADCC’s insufficient prize money.
Jones kicked off the discussion regarding the ADCC prize money – which hasn’t changed in over two decades – several weeks ago. He asserts that, as the most prestigious event in submission grappling, the ADCC should pay much more than the current $10,000 for male division winners and $6,000 for female division winners.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, those claims drew the attention of multiple-time ADCC champion Gordon Ryan, who came to the defense of the ADCC and its prize money.
Jones is slated to next compete on April 20 in Dubai at Pit Submission Series 4, where he will take on UFC contender Rinat Fakhretdinov.
