Every athlete competing at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational

View the full and up-to-date list of every grappler set to compete at the first-ever Craig Jones Invitational on August 16-17.

In May 2024, popular Australian grappler Craig Jones made waves in the submission grappling and BJJ community by announcing plans to hold a massive, two-day tournament with million-dollar prize money up for grabs on the same weekend as the 2024 ADCC World Championships.

The event will consist of two 16-man brackets, one below 80k and one above 80kg, each with a $1 million prize on the line. Matches will consist of three five-minute rounds to be scored by a panel of judges and will take place in a unique pit-like space.

In addition to the two brackets, the event will feature at least two other superfight. Jones will face multiple-time ADCC and IBJJF world champion Gabi Garcia in an inter-gender match. Also, reigning ADCC champion Ffion Davies will be competing in a superfight, but at the time of publication, no opponent has been announced. (It has since been announced that Davies will take on former ADCC champion and current UFC standout Mackenzie Dern.)

Given the large prize money and $10,001 paid to every grappler competing at the event, it’s no surprise that a number of athletes who were previously announced for ADCC 2024 have made the switch to the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI)

Check out the current list of CJI competitors below.

Craig Jones Invitational confirmed competitors

Superfights

  • Craig Jones vs. Gabi Garcia
  • Ffion Davies vs. Mackenzie Dern

-80kg

  • Andrew Tackett
  • Jozef Chen
  • Nicky Ryan
  • Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa
  • Eoghan O’Flanagan
  • Matheus Diniz
  • Renato Canuto
  • Levi Jones-Leary
  • Tommy Langaker
  • Jason Nolf
  • Andy Varela
  • Kade Ruotolo
  • Tye Ruotolo
  • Roberto Jimenez
  • Kenta Iwamoto
  • Magid Hage

+80kg

  • William Tackett
  • Nick Rodriguez
  • Luke Rockhold
  • Lucas Kanard
  • Joao Gabriel Rocha
  • Victor Hugo
  • Owen Livesey
  • Fellipe Andrew
  • Max Gimenis
  • Adam Bradley
  • Inacio Santos
  • Pat Downey
  • Pedro Alex
  • Kyle Boehm
  • Mahamed Aly
  • Daniel Kerkvliet

How to watch: The inaugural Craig Jones Invitational will take place on August 16-17 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will air live and free on YouTube.

Ben Coate

Ben has been involved with grappling, whether through wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, essentially his entire life. After wrestling throughout his childhood, Ben found Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a young adult and quickly fell in love. He has been training for over ten years and holds the rank of black belt, and remains involved in both the MMA and BJJ scene. Ben has been writing about combat sports since 2017. He has interviewed and profiled some of MMA's biggest stars, including multiple UFC champions.

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