Garry Tonon has shared strong opinions on the current direction of professional grappling, voicing concerns about the motives behind the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) and its impact on the sport’s ecosystem.

Speaking on a recent podcast, the veteran competitor argued that the promotion’s launch felt more like an attack on existing organizations than an effort to build something positive for the community:

It definitely rubbed me the wrong way when CJI initially started doing whatever they were doing.

I felt as though it was a lot less about creating a new organization and a lot more about trying to burn an organization that had already existed.

Tonon specifically pointed to ADCC as a cornerstone of professional Jiu-Jitsu, crediting it for keeping the sport alive through years when prize money was almost nonexistent:

In order to win $1,000 in jiu-jitsu, there were very few opportunities to do it.
ADCC has basically been a charity organization for grappling for over a decade, maybe two.

Because there was no money to be made in the sport, and they were giving out substantially larger prizes than anyone else.

Although Tonon acknowledged that ADCC could improve its pay structure, he emphasized that the organization’s long-standing contributions to athletes and the sport’s prestige shouldn’t be dismissed:

They’ve been a mainstay in the community, giving back monetarily and prestige-wise for a very long time.

Tonon’s main criticism of CJI, however, was its decision to schedule its debut event on the same weekend as ADCC:

CJI didn’t need to be on the same weekend as ADCC.
That was crazy.

You basically made it so grapplers couldn’t get both opportunities.”

The New Wave athlete also pushed back against the growing trend of exclusive contracts in grappling:

I’ve never been huge on one organization signing people’s lives away and not letting them compete elsewhere.

It prevents all the matches that people want to see.

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