Craig Jones has once again spoken out against exclusive contracts in grappling, this time naming Ffion Davies and Mikey Musumeci as examples of athletes whose decisions could, in his view, harm the sport.

While exclusive deals are common in MMA, they’re still relatively new to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – and Jones believes the risks are already clear:

We’re not like MMA today. There’s not a monopoly over grappling, but by signing these exclusive deals, you’re setting us on a path towards that territory where we’ll have less power as a group of athletes…

If they crush all the competition, you have nowhere else to go. What incentive do they have to pay you more? That’s my concern with this.

He pointed to Davies’ contract specifically as an example of how exclusivity limits opportunities for others:

When they signed Ffion Davies, they signed arguably the best female grappler in the world. And my problem with Ffion, and again, she was always pro-women’s grappling as a whole. And I’m like, alright, if you want women’s grappling to grow, I understand the mindset of ‘attach yourself to the UFC’… But for the other female competitors that are really, really good, they might get offered sh*t money. Now the only opportunity they have to test themselves against you, is to sign potentially a sh**ty contract. So I think you’re hamstringing the sport as a whole.

Jones offered his own solution, pointing to the model he’s building with the Craig Jones Invitational:

We need events like CJI where the best face the best. And we need an area where you can go to other organizations, you can shop your match offer. If you’re about the money, you can shop that offer around and potentially get more money.

He then addressed Musumeci’s choice to sign with UFC BJJ, framing it as similarly restrictive:

But I want to know why Mikey (Musumeci) sort of did that deal. He’s endorsing these exclusive contracts that I don’t think are a necessity… If Mikey wants to face the best guys in the world, he’s not doing that. My big problem with these guys that sign with the UFC, now you will only face who’s willing to sign with the UFC. So you might not face the best grapplers in the world… If those other grapplers don’t want to sign these exclusive deals, then you’ll be forced to face – (Rerisson Gabriel) had never had a no gi match. Like, have you just sold out completely?… Don’t sit here and pretend that by signing with the UFC you’re the number one grappler in the world and you’re gonna face the best grapplers in the world… It’s a selfish decision to make.

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