Ffion Davies didn’t hold back after her win at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 11 – calling out Craig Jones and his promotion, the CJI, over the ongoing debate around women’s divisions in elite grappling events.
The Welsh standout used her post-match interview to directly address the absence of female representation at CJI, challenging the narrative that the promotion is inclusive of top-level women’s competition:
My stance is going to come as a female athlete and if you look at CJI, they don’t have a women’s division.I think they’re now being bullied into putting a women’s division on.
Her comments come in response to recent remarks from Jones, who suggested some female athletes were contributing to the problem by signing exclusive contracts.Without naming anyone, he implied that certain deals were slowing progress toward building viable women’s brackets.
Davies, a reigning ADCC and IBJJF world champion, made it clear that she’s no longer willing to chase inclusion at events that don’t prioritize female divisions:
I have no desire to beg people for a place on a card anymore.I used to do it. I used to go: “Please help me. Please, please, please.” I don’t want to do that anymore.
I just got put as main event on the biggest platform there is. I’m not begging for a spot anymore.
Although she acknowledged the quality and impact of the first CJI event, Davies was firm about her future involvement:
I wish CJI the best. I think it was a great show. I was really glad to be part of it. I think it made huge waves and there’s no questioning it was an amazing event.
But unless it’s a women’s division, I’m not interested.
She also pushed back against Jones’ recent critiques of the UFC, interpreting them as thinly veiled shots at the promotion’s business practices and contracts:
He’s been taking a lot of shots at the UFC kind of subliminally.
From her perspective, the UFC offers a more legitimate path forward, especially as she sets her sights on new goals:
I would much rather fight for a belt with the UFC.If that’s a possibility, I would love to do it. A 135-pound belt would be phenomenal.
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