Photo Owned by CJI
The brackets for the first annual Craig Jones Invitational(CJI,1) were announced on August 6th, 2024. Craig Jones, for the big reveal, streamed the event live on the B-Team YouTube page.
The first round is STACKED with tons of great matches that could headline and super fight events. Check out the full CJI 1 brackets detailed below!
How Were The CJI 1 Brackets Put Together?
The brackets for the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational were randomly put together live on a live stream. Craig Jones revealed the opening round matches as they were randomly selected.
Fans will be pleasantly surprised at the matchups, which are filled with potential FOTN matches. Champions and standout athletes from every combat sport will compete for the $1 million prizes.
CJI 1 +80 kg 1st Round Matches
The CJI 1 +80 kg 1st round brackets were the first matches to be revealed. Here are the matches for the +80 kg division:
Left Bracket
Nicky Rod vs. Max Gimenis
Owen Livesey vs. Mahamed Aly
Adam Bradley vs. Kyle Boehm
Pat Downey vs. Luke Rockhold
Right Bracket
Victor Hugo vs. Lucas Kanard
Inacio Santos vs. Pedro Alex
Daniel Kerkvliet vs. Fellipe Andrew
Joao Gabriel Rocha vs. William Tackett
CJI +80 kg 1st Round Thoughts & Predictions
The random drawing gave us some unexpected matchups for the opening round of the CJI 1 +80 kg tourney. There are definitely some favorites on both sides of the bracket who will most likely advance.
On the left side, Nicky Rod is the clear favorite, but it won’t be easy for him. Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold and amateur wrestling champion Pat Downey could be an exhilarating match.
On the right side of the bracket, we have three world champions who could easily win it all. Victor Hugo is the betting favorite to make it to the finals, followed by Fellipe Andrew and Joao Rocha.
CJI 1 -80 kg 1st Round Matches
Next up on the live stream, Jones revealed the 1st round matches for the -80 kg division. Here are the opening round matches for the CJI 1 -80 kg tourney:
Left Bracket
Tye Ruotolo vs. Jason Nolf
Roberto Jimenez vs. Levi Jones-Leary
Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa vs. Kenta Iwamoto
Andy Varela vs. Jozef Chen
Right Bracket
Kade Ruotolo vs. Matheus Diniz
Renato Canuto vs. Tommy Langaker
Magid Hage vs. Eoghan O’Flannagan
Andrew Tackett vs. Nicky Ryan
CJI -80 kg 1st Round Thoughts & Predictions
The CJI -80 kg tourney is stacked with talent, and any of the athletes could get to the finals. Both sides of the bracket have exciting matchups that could steal the show.
On the left side of the bracket, Tye Ruotolo and Hulk Barbosa are probably the two favorites to advance. However, we’ll see some insane techniques displayed in the Jimenez vs. Jones-Leary and Varela vs. Chen matches.
The right side of the bracket will be a little more challenging to pick. Each of the four matches of the right side will be an absolute war. Nobody would be surprised to see any of the eight athletes on the right side make it to the finals.
Craig Jones Invitational Opening Round Thoughts
Along with many within the BJJ community, we have high expectations that CJI 1 will be a great event. We’re getting some killer matchups that will not disappoint fans.
What we really liked about the Craig Jones Invitational bracket reveal was there was no favoritism shown to B-Team athletes. Craig could’ve easily made easy paths for his teammates, but he didn’t.
They must go to war to get the $1 million prize. ADCC just might get outshined next week by CJI, which goes down August 16-17th live and free on YouTube.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.
