Craig Jones has enacted a major format shift for the second edition of the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI 2).

After the massive success of the inaugural event, Jones has opted to abandon the solo tournament in favor of a team-based ruleset – a move that sparked a wave of both support and skepticism from the grappling community.

The switch to team grappling might seem like a radical departure, but for Jones, the decision was calculated and intentional.
When speaking to Ariel Helwani about the change, he made it clear this wasn’t a last-minute pivot:

For me it was about growing the sport and I’d always planned, knowing full well that it was going to be mimicked in some capacity by other people in the industry.

To the extent that it has been?
That was surprising.

I think that’s a testament to the success of the first event, but I always wanted to do something different for the second event.

His prediction came true. Since the first CJI, the unique pit structure and three-round format have been adopted or imitated across multiple promotions.

Even UFC BJJ, an entirely new grappling offshoot, appeared on the scene – further validating the influence of Jones’ format decisions.
With the competitive landscape beginning to mirror what CJI introduced, a fresh approach became necessary to avoid repetition.

Jones’ goal is not just to mix things up for the sake of it, but to showcase a format that could capture the attention of casual fans just as much as diehards:

For the third event, we probably likely go back to the million-dollar 16-man style event but I wanted to showcase how exciting grappling could be.

So we hooked the best athletes with one million for the first one, now I really want to double down and show the fans that this is the most exciting format from a spectator’s perspective.

It’s a calculated risk – but one that aligns with Jones’ overarching mission to evolve how grappling is consumed and understood by the broader public:

Quintet, for someone that doesn’t train, will have the most appeal. It’s the chaos, it could be a small guy against a big guy and that’s really the goal for this event.

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