Although Craig Jones Invitational 2 delivered a weekend of world-class grappling, it closed with controversy over how the final between New Wave Jiu-Jitsu and B-Team Jiu-Jitsu was decided.
While most matches went smoothly, the first day already brought some dispute when referees ruled that Giancarlo Bodoni tapped to Taylor Pearman.
That decision divided opinion but was seen largely as a judgment call, not a conspiracy.
The bigger issue came in the final itself. With the team scores razor-close, the bout required a ruling that hadn’t been used before in the event.
Previous matchups were decided either by more submissions or by a clear judges’ advantage, but the final was too tight for either.
Mica Galvao gave New Wave the opening round, while Victor Hugo dominated the next but was still capped at a 10-9 because of his size advantage.
Dorian Olivarez and Giancarlo Bodoni restored New Wave’s lead with narrow 10-9s, leaving it all to the final match.
Nicky Rodriguez went all-out for a finish, earning a 10-8 that tied the overall scorecards at 47-47, despite New Wave winning three of the five rounds.
The broadcast team then announced that because of the tie, the outcome would hinge on the final round.
That meant B-Team were declared winners, sparking confusion and frustration from New Wave and many fans who believed the majority of rounds should have decided it.
The situation only grew murkier once the official rules were reviewed.
Two clauses seemed to contradict each other – by one rule, New Wave should have been awarded the victory with more individual wins.
By the other, B-Team’s final-round success gave them the win. Because the rules don’t establish which clause takes precedence, the result was left open to interpretation.
And now, the CJI’s anonymous donor stepped in with a solution: B-Team would keep their million-dollar prize, while New Wave would also be awarded $1 million to put the controversy to rest.
Here is what he had to say on a recent Reddit post:
I am the anonymous CJI donor and from my interpretation of the rules, New Wave should have won (I also thought they won on points but I’m not a judge and that’s a separate discussion). I’ve asked Lachlan Giles to comment below to confirm that I’m the donor.
In any case, I’m gonna put up another million to pay New Wave. There was no bad intent from Craig, Seth, the judges, or anyone. It just went down in a fucked up way and the easiest way to make it right is to simply pay New Wave the $1m that they deserve. So we’ll make it right – stay tuned.
Craig Jones also confirmed the news via social media:
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