William Tackett has announced his decision to compete at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) instead of the ADCC. The CJI event is set to take place on the same weekend as the ADCC in Las Vegas. Both William and his brother Andrew Tackett had qualified for ADCC by winning the trials.

In his statement, William expressed that this was a difficult decision because he believed he had a strong chance to win at ADCC. However, the significant prize money of $1,000,000 offered at the CJI was a major factor in his decision, as it represents a life-changing opportunity for him and his family. He is now focused and ready to compete at the CJI on August 16th and 17th at the Thomas & Mac Center in Las Vegas:

William’s decision highlights the increasing opportunities and financial incentives in professional grappling, which can influence athletes’ choices on where to compete. This decision also underscores the growing prominence of new events like the CJI in the competitive landscape of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling.

Craig Jones recently spoke about the event where the prize money is 1 Million USD and there are other aspects that would make competing in the event interesting for athletes:

When we had some problems with the ADCC, I decided to call in some favors and just run my own event.

We’ll run two 16-men tournaments, $1 million prize money.
And to show up, we’ll give $10,001.

ADCC pays $10,000 for the first prize.
So I thought it’d be funny if we just give them $10,001 just to show up.

Jones explains that this is now a serious undertaking:

It’s really just a funny idea that has now become something real, with the right funding.
So, that’s the plan basically.

ADCC is a tournament I could never win – so I thought, you know, let’s take some money and let’s destroy the tournament, make our own tournament.

 

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