In a surprising turn of events, Kade and Tye Ruotolo have officially withdrawn from the 2024 ADCC World Championships…
And instead, the brothers will compete at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) event!
Both will go at it in the -80kg division, as shared by the official CJI page:
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The departure of the Ruotolo brothers from ADCC is a significant blow to the event, which is scheduled for the same weekend as the CJI.
Kade Ruotolo, the youngest-ever ADCC world champion, achieved this milestone in 2022 in the highly competitive 77kg division with a perfect finishing rate.
He has also successfully defended his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title, securing victories over renowned competitors such as Matheus Gabriel, Tommy Langaker, and Francisco Lo.
Tye Ruotolo is the youngest-ever IBJJF black belt gi world champion.
And, despite an early defeat in the 88kg division at the 2022 ADCC World Championships, Tye made a remarkable comeback in the absolute category – defeating Pedro Marinho and Felipe Pena, before narrowly losing to Nicholas Meregali.
So, it will be interesting to see whether other top competitors in the Ruotolo’s weight division will follow suit by stepping away from the ADCC and joining CJI…
Such as, perhaps, Mica Galvao?
On the Decision to Join the Craig Jones Invitational:
“There were a couple of things, the first one being a million dollars is a million dollars, right? And, you know, obviously the ADCC has the accolade and the prestige, but with this new CJI coming into play, a lot of the hefty competitors, a lot of the sick names have left already and gone into this next division.”
“Also, my brother and I, we can compete in the same division on opposite sides… If all goes right, we’ll meet in the finals and have an awesome war there.”
Kad also talked about with the millions of dollars ADCC is spending on production, they could give more back to the athletes.
Kade Ruotolo’s decision to choose the Craig Jones Invitational over ADCC highlights a significant shift in the grappling world.
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