SUNDAY 18, 2024, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA. Last night grappling fans had the pleasure of witnessing the inaugural edition of the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), the no-gi jiu-jitsu/submission-wrestling tournament with the biggest cash prize in the sport’s history. 1 million dollars per weight class (2x).
Set on the same weekend as the ADCC (submission wrestling’s most established tournament brand), the heavy cash prize appealed to several ADCC-qualified athletes who opted out of the tournament to compete at CJI. These athletes joined a mix of top-level NCAA Wrestling stars such as Jason Nolf, Pat Downey, and Daniel Kerkvliet, and other players of the jiu-jitsu world to make an excellent melting pot of grappling styles, which translated very well on the mats with fun and exciting clashes.
THE CJI UPSETS
Split between two divisions, under 80 kilograms (176.3 lb) and over 80 kilograms, with 16 challengers in each division, the event had quite a few upsets. The first to happen (and the biggest of all the upsets) was that of Australia’s ADCC Trials winner Lucas Karnard, who was virtually unknown to grappling’s mainstream audience before this weekend. Karnard beat the +80 kg #1 seed of the tournament, Victor Hugo, in the first round in under 3 minutes with a quick jumping maneuver from a passing stance to the saddle control. From there Lucas finished the Big Man Flow with an inverted heel hook to the shock of the grappling community.
The second biggest upset of the CJI came from the hands and feet of another Australian, Levi Jones-Leary of Absolute MMA. Despite being a well-known athlete, Jones-Leary was not regarded as a top seed at minus 80 kilograms. Nevertheless, the talented guard player was able to take out the tournament’s favorite, Tye Ruotolo via decision in the quarter-finals by making good use of his defensive guard to slow the impetus of Tye.
THE CJI SHOWMEN
Impossible not to reference the outstanding performances of Kade Ruotolo and Andrew Tackett in the 176 lbs division. These two sought nothing but offense throughout the tournament and were very successful at it. Breaking from the old-school jiu-jitsu mold of securing a position and slowly working your way up to the following move until finding the checkmate submission, Kade and Andrew threw everything at the wall and dealt with whatever stuck (and what didn’t) on the fly. Relying on their speed, technique, intuition, relentless stamina, and fast problem-solving skills was the method, and what a pleasure it was to watch. Tackett ended up deservingly winning the “Most Exciting Player” award.
Not only did Kade and Andrew provide exciting matches throughout the tournament, but their face-to-face clash in the semi-finals will be remembered as one of the best of the year, if not the best. The two conquered several positions on each other at a relentless pace, with back-takes from Tackett and Darce chokes from Kade being the strongest attacks from both sides. This was as even of a match as humanly possible.
Fellipe Andrew was another athlete who never stopped working towards the submission throughout the tournament and showed some of the slickest transitions in CJI. Andrew doesn’t compete in no-gi very often or train in this ruleset but had a tremendous performance nevertheless. The Alliance San Diego athlete was one of the smallest in the +80-kilo and went up against three of the largest men in the division, taking out two via submission and one in a controversial split decision before succumbing to the champ, Nicky Rod.
And last but not least, Nick Rodriguez, AKA, Nicky Rod. On a league of his own in the +80 kilogram weight class, Rodriguez was never in danger and never stopped pressing the acceleration pedal. Takedown to bodylock, bodylock to guard-pass forcing the turtle defense, following this with a back attack and an RNC. This is the Nicky Rod way for which no one had an answer. Simple and efficient.
ROUND 1:
– Tye Ruotolo def. Jason Nolf via Kneebar
– Levi Jones-Leary def. Roberto Jimenez via Inside heel hook
– Lucas Barbosa def. Kenta Iwamoto via decision
– Jozef Chen def. Andy Varela via decision
– Kade Ruotolo def. Matheus Diniz via Straight ankle lock
– Tommy Langaker def. Renato Canuto via decision
– Eoghan OFlanagan def. Magid Hage via Outside heel hook
– Andrew Tackett def. Nicky Ryan via decision
QUARTER-FINALS:
– Levi Jones-Leary def. Tye Ruotolo via decision
– Lucas Barbosa def. Jozef Chen via Calf slicer
– Kade Ruotolo def. Tommy Langaker via decision
– Andrew Tackett def. Eoghan OFlanagan via decision
SEMI-FINALS:
– Levi Jones-Leary def. Lucas Barbosa via decision
– Kade Ruotolo def. Andrew Tackett via decision
FINAL:
– Kade Ruotolo def. Levi Jones-Leary via decision
ROUND 1:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Max Gimenis via RNC
– Owen Livesey def. Mahamed Ali via decision
– Adam Bradley def. Kyle Boehm via decision
– Pat Downey def. Luke Rockhold via decision
– Lucas Karnard def. Victor Hugo via Inside heel hook
– Inacio Santos def. Pedro “Bombom” Alex via decision
– Fellipe Andrew def. Daniel Kerkvliet via decision
– Joao Rocha def. William Tackett via decision
QUARTER-FINALS:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Owen Livesey via RNC
– Adam Bradley def. Pat Downey via decision
– Inacio Santos def. Lucas Karnard via decision
– Fellipe Andrew def. Joao Rocha via decision
SEMI-FINALS:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Adam Bradley via RNC
– Fellipe Andrew def. Inacio Santos via Inside heel hook
FINAL:
– Nick Rodriguez def. Fellipe Andrew via RNC
SUPERFIGHTS
– Ffion Davies def. Mackenzie Dern via armlock
A beautiful match between two athletes who have always shown aggressive jiu-jitsu throughout their careers. As referenced in our preview article, Dern had a tough mountain to climb in her match against Davies. The Welsh grappler is slightly bigger and dedicates herself full time to jiu-jitsu against Dern who is a full-time MMA fighter, two handicaps that were evident from the get go. Ffion was able to establish her dominance from the top position in the first round and in the second round, used Dern’s willingness to engage from the standing position to wrestle the Brazilian to the ground and immediately attacking the submission, getting it from a back attack to a back triangle and finishing by attacking the arm.
– Craig Jones def. Gabi Garcia via RNC
The first intergender match ever jiu-itsu history between the most accomplished female grappler in the history of no-gi jiu-jitsu, Gabrielle Garcia, and Craig Jones, one of the most popular grapplers in the sport on social media, 2x silver medal in the ADCC, and B Team co-founder. Both athletes were in semi-retirement and came out for this superfight. Jones “flow-rolled” throughout the match, catching and releasing submissions, and taking the bout with a very agreeable demeanor but ultimately opted for the finish in the second round with an RNC.
