Craig Jones is launching the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) to compete directly with ADCC, featuring high-stakes grappling matches and significant prize money in Las Vegas over the same weekend.
Craig Jones has declared war on the ADCC.
The inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) goes head-to-head with ADCC starting on Friday. This post will help explain the start times, brackets, and broadcast schedules for how to watch the dueling grappling events, both of which take place in Las Vegas.
The star-studded jiu-jitsu weekend kicks off Friday, August 16, with day one of the CJI at the Thomas & Mack Center. The event features two weight brackets — under 80kg and over 80kg — with $1 million grand prizes up for grabs for the winners. All competitors earn a minimum of $10,001 for showing up, exactly $1 more than the ADCC grand prize. Day one starts at 6 p.m. ET and airs live on MMA Fighting via B-Team Jiu-Jitsu’s YouTube channel.
The two CJI brackets and Friday matchups can be seen below.
Over 80kg first round:
- Nicky Rod vs. Max Gimenis
- Owen Livesey vs. Mahamed Aly
- Adam Bradley vs. Kyle Boehm
- Luke Rockhold vs. Pat Downey
- William Tackett vs. Joao Gabriel Rocha
- Fellipe Andrew vs. Daniel Kerkvliet
- Inacio Santos vs. Pedro Alex
- Victor Hugo vs. Lucas Kanard
Under 80kg first round:
- Tye Ruotolo vs. Jason Nolf
- Roberto Jimenez vs Levi Jones-Leary
- Lucas Barbosa vs. Kenta Iwamoto
- Jozef Chen vs. Andy Varela
- Nicky Ryan vs. Andrew Tackett
- Magid Hage vs. Eoghan O’Flanagan
- Renato Canuto vs. Tommy Langaker
- Kade Ruotolo vs. Matheus Diniz
The action then moves to Saturday, August 17, for both CJI day two and ADCC day one.
CJI day two begins at 8 p.m. ET and once again airs live on MMA Fighting via B-Team Jiu-Jitsu’s YouTube channel. In addition to the final rounds of the two $1 million brackets, the event is headlined by a pair of grappling superfights, as event organizer Craig Jones takes on IBJJF Hall of Famer Gabi Garcia in a man vs. woman battle, and UFC contender and former ADCC champion Mackenzie Dern meets former ADCC champion Ffion Davies.
ADCC day one kicks off at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena and features five men’s divisions, three women’s divisions, and one men’s absolute division. Brackets will be revealed on Friday. A superfight between jiu-jitsu legend Gordon Ryan and ADCC champion Felipe Pena also takes place on day one. The action begins at 1 p.m. ET and airs live on FloGrappling and the FloSports app.
ADCC day two then takes over on Sunday, August 18, again at 1 p.m. ET and airing live on FloGrappling and the FloSports app. In addition to the championship rounds, day two also features another Gordon Ryan superfight, this time against three-time ADCC champion Yuri Simoes.
The competitors in the five ADCC men’s brackets and three women’s brackets can be seen below.
Men’s -66 kg:
- Diogo Reis
- Owen Jones
- Ethan Thomas
- Kennedy Maciel
- Fabricio Andrey
- Deandre Corbe
- Huaiqing Xu
- Ethan Crelinsten
- Kauã Gabriel
- Ashley Williams
- Josh Cisneros
- Keith Krikorian
- Gabriel Sousa
- Diego Pato
Men’s -77 kg:
- Elijah Dorsey
- Luiz Paulo
- Alexandre Jesus
- JT Torres
- Mica Galvao
- Dante Leon
- PJ Barch
- Jonnatas Gracie
- Oliver Taza
- Mateusz Szczeciński
- Davi Ramos
- Garry Tonon
- Fabio Caloi
- Jeremy Skinner
- Vagner Rocha
- Max Hanson
Men’s -88 kg:
Giancarlo Bodoni
Santeri Lilius
Jacob Couch
Izaak Michell
Taylor Pearman
Charles Negromonte
Pedro Marinho
Gabriel Almeida
Jacob Rodriguez
Elder Cruz
Andre Porfirio
Ryan Aitken
Chris Wojcik
Josh Hinger
Felipe Costa
Achilles Rocha
Men’s -99 kg:
Kaynan Duarte
Declan Moody
Henrique Cardoso
Daniel Schuardt
Rafael Lovato
Nicholas Meregali
Patrick Gaudio
Vinicius Ferreira
Men’s +99 kg:
Heikki Jussila
Daniel Manasoiu
Mark Macqueen
Mike Perez
Felipe Pena
Vinny Magalhaes
Vince Pezzuto
John Hansen
Roosevelt Sousa
Haisam Rida
Luke Griffith
Damon Ramos
Brandon Reed
Women’s -55 kg:
Margot Ciccarelli
Anna Rodrigues
Jasmine Rocha
Adele Fornarino
Mayssa Bastos
Alex Enriquez
Brenda Larissa
Bianca Basilio
Women’s -65 kg:
Aurelie Le Vern
Ana Carolina Vieira
Helena Crevar
Sula-Mae Loewenthal
Brianna Ste-Marie
Bia Mesquita
Amanda Leve
Women’s +65 kg:
Amy Campo
Nia Blackman
Maria Ruffatto
Elizabeth Mitrovic
Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths
Nathiely De Jesus
Kendall Reusing
Rafaela Guedes