The Ruotolo brothers Kade and Tye have withdrawn from ADCC 2024 in favor of competing at the inaugural CJI.
Two of the sport’s biggest stars have officially withdrawn from the 2024 ADCC World Championships and will instead be competing at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), as 2022 ADCC 77kg world champion Kade Ruotolo and 2022 ADCC absolute bronze medalist Tye Ruotolo will vie for the $1 million prize.
Both brothers will compete in the -80kg division.
Each widely recognized among the top pound-for-pound competitors in no-gi grappling, the Ruotolo brothers’ departure from ADCC marks a significant blow to the event, which is slated to take place on the same weekend as the CJI.
Kade Ruotolo is the youngest-ever ADCC world champion – a feat he achieved in the event’s most talent-laden division with a 100 percent finishing rate. Since his gold medal run at the 2022 ADCC World Championships, he has gone on to further entrench himself as a pound-for-pound powerhouse, winning and defending the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title with victories over IBJJF world champions Matheus Gabriel and Tommy Langaker, as well as no-gi Pans champion Francisco Lo.
Kade is slated to defend his ONE world title against fellow ONE star Mikey Musumeci in September at ONE 168: Denver.
For his part, Tye Ruotolo is also a wildly successful young grappler. He is the youngest-ever IBJJF black belt gi world champion and, like his brother, is a current ONE submission grappling world champion. At the 2022 ADCC World Championships, he suffered a stunning first-round defeat in the 88kg division but roared back in the absolute with victories over Pedro Marinho and Felipe Pena before losing a narrow decision to Nicholas Meregali.
In ONE, Tye boasts submission wins against Garry Tonon and Izaak Michell. He is scheduled to face fellow young phenom Jozef Chen on July 5 at ONE Fight Night 23.
View a full and updated list of every athlete competing at the inaugural CJI here.
How to watch: The inaugural CJI takes place on August 16-17 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will air live on YouTube.
