Mackenzie Dern has expressed her desire to return to the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) for its second event in 2025!
Dern made a memorable return to the BJJ world at the inaugural CJI, where she faced off against Ffion Davies.
And, although she was submitted, the experience hasn’t deterred her from stepping back into the spotlight of grappling.
Speaking after her victory over Amanda Ribas at UFC Vegas 101, Dern was clear about her intentions to participate in CJI 2:
Definitely. (Craig Jones) always brings the money.
She also shared her appreciation for Jones’s approach to promoting BJJ:
It’s a good show. I like how he brings the entertainment to Jiu-Jitsu.
We kind of need that.I think it reaches a lot of different people, which is one of the reasons why I came to MMA – to try and spread Jiu-Jitsu to people who have never even seen martial arts or practice martial arts.
Dern highlighted the unique appeal of the Craig Jones Invitational:
I don’t know if (Craig Jones) can do lots of events like that, like once a month – but it definitely helps push the purses and the types of athletes that want to get involved.
Last one they had Olympic wrestler fighting Jiu-Jitsu players.
And it’s different inside the pit, so it’s really cool to kind of test us and put our Jiu-Jitsu against different mat, and different rule set.It’s really cool and definitely helps elevate the Jiu-Jitsu scene.
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