Tap Cancer Out founder Jon Thomas spoke to Grappling Insider about the impact the inaugural CJI had on the organization.
By all accounts, the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) was a resounding success. From massive viewership numbers to electrifying and unforgettable matches, to the overwhelmingly positive response from the BJJ community, the event looks to have changed the landscape of professional grappling for the better.
Perhaps lost in the shuffle of Kade Ruotolo and Nick Rodriguez each winning $1 million prizes at CJI is the fact that the event exists to give money to charity via the Fair Fight Foundation. CJI’s premier charity partner was Tap Cancer Out – a non-profit organization that has raised millions for cancer research largely via philanthropic BJJ tournaments.
For Tap Cancer Out, CJI created a massive impact, both in terms of dollars raised and overall visibility for the organization.
“When I heard about CJI, I immediately knew it was going to be huge,” Tap Cancer Out Founder and Executive Director Jon Thomas told Grappling Insider. “It was trying to be disruptive in so many ways, including massively increased fighter pay, and I immediately thought that having a charity element would only add to the impact CJI could create.”
Thomas said that when Craig Jones appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience and officially confirmed a charity element to the event, his team went to work trying to contact Jones. Ultimately, it was Kasai CEO Rich Byrne who reached out to Jones to make the introduction and promised to match dollar-for-dollar any donation made to Tap Cancer Out.
From Thomas’s first call with CJI co-founder Seth Belisle, he knew the partnership between the two organizations would be a fruitful one.
“[Seth] shared his personal story of how cancer touched our lives, and we discussed how a partnership might work,” said Thomas. “While obviously, CJI would be supporting TCO through a generous gift, we wanted to support CJI as well by creating content around the fighters to help share their perspectives on CJI and how cancer has touched their lives. That’s how we connected with Joao Gabriel Rocha who is a cancer survivor. His story was shared on the CJI broadcast right before his first match.”
Like any other BJJ fan, Thomas felt like CJI was something special, but it wasn’t until he was sitting Alley-side for the event that he realized it was a landmark moment in the sport of professional grappling – and the Tap Cancer Out logo and branding were seen everywhere.
“I truly didn’t realize the scale and reach of the event until I was there on the floor of the Thomas and Mack arena, next to the famed ‘Alley.’ The production value was so high, like nothing I’d ever experienced in BJJ. Then once you felt the energy in the crowd, especially during the semi-finals and finals, we knew we were part of a historical event in our sport.”
Indeed, as the matches unfolded and drama reached a crescendo on day two of CJI, Thomas knew he was witnessing something entirely unique in the world of BJJ.
As a fan, he was blown away.
“The energy in the crowd was palpable and only increased after every match,” he recalled. “And it wasn’t just one moment. The Tackett vs. Ruotolo match – the greatest I’ve ever seen – Ffion vs. Mackenzie, Nicky Rod’s domination, and Gabi Garcia’s emotional post-superfight speech were all moments that literally gave me chills. The crowd was deafening on many occasions.”
Of course, CJI was a massive event with millions of viewers, so Tap Cancer Out would naturally benefit from the boost in visibility.
But Thomas said that the connection between Tap Cancer Out and CJI runs a bit deeper, each using BJJ to promote positive change.
“The popularity and noteworthiness of the event was obviously a big draw, but we really wanted to be part of an event that was changing the sport for good. Tap Cancer Out exists to help change the narrative of BJJ – to show the world that this group of people aren’t just some underground fight club. We’re a community of martial artists from all walks of life who are willing to fight for those in the fight of their lives. So to see Craig and Seth finding a way to change the lives of the competitors on the card and put the world on notice that BJJ competitors should be fairly valued, that’s a noble cause that we wanted to be a part of. We wanted this to be the Avengers of BJJ events where all the organizations doing good things in BJJ come together in one place!”
Thomas has been working to grow Tap Cancer Out for nearly 15 years, and CJI felt like a culmination of those years of hard work.
For him, seeing his brainchild so prominently featured at what was undoubtedly the most watched BJJ event of all time was “surreal.”
“Surreal. I kept saying that word. Because I remember when it was just an idea in my head,” he explained. “Before any of our tournaments. Before we had a logo. Before it even had a name! I just wanted to combine my hatred for cancer with my passion for jiu-jitsu, and after a few starts and stops, Tap Cancer Out and the TCO BJJ Open series was born. I was receiving texts from training partners I haven’t seen in years saying how happy they were to see TCO on such a big stage.”
The effect of CJI on Tap Cancer Out was felt immediately. Even in the run-up to the event, TCO saw a huge influx of Instagram followers, as well as a massive boost in worldwide merchandise sales, receiving more international orders during CJI weekend than the organization had made in years.
Importantly, the impact of CJI on Tap Cancer Out runs deeper than an uptick in t-shirt sales – it directly furthers the organization’s fight against cancer and ensures that the fight will continue for years to come.
“This type of support is critical for our ability to build on our capacity and implement programs that help us reach grapplers near and far,” Thomas said. “Even after more than a decade of work, we’re still just a team of about a half-dozen full- and part-time employees. While we’ve achieved a lot, I feel our potential is limitless and CJI’s support helps us take a monumental step towards unlocking it.”
Given the undeniable success of CJI and the positive reception from the vast majority of the BJJ community, it’s no surprise that Thomas hopes for a continued relationship between CJI and TCO.
He said that his organization was never treated as an afterthought by the CJI team. Quite the opposite, Thomas felt like an “equal partner” to CJI.
“We had a wonderful time working with Craig, Seth, Anthony and the entire CJI team. Their work ethic was impressive and they truly treated us as an equal partner in CJI’s mission to impact lives in a variety of ways. We would obviously love to continue the partnership to CJI 2 and beyond, and we’re standing by to support in any and all ways possible. I think the relationship we’ve already built over the last 3 months puts us in a great position to immediately start supporting CJI 2.”
In the end, CJI’s impact on Tap Cancer Out can’t be overstated.
After years of hosting philanthropic tournaments, selling merchandise, hosting fundraising events, and collecting donations in the fight against cancer, Thomas feels like CJI was a breakthrough moment for TCO.
“We have spent over a decade trying to carve out our place in the BJJ world, and it’s been an uphill battle to say the least. No organization has ever done as much to shine a spotlight on Tap Cancer Out as CJI did.”
