Now that a few days have passed and the dust has truly settled on the biggest no gi grappling event of the year, it’s time to take stock of CJI 2 and see what lessons can be learned for the future. With dozens of the best BJJ competitors in the world facing each other in a unique format, there was a lot of elite grappling over the weekend. The controversial ending to the tournament threatened to overshadow the whole thing, but there was plenty to pay attention to before that. Outside of any controversy, it’s important to use events like this to get a better understanding of the direction that the sport is heading in.
5 Lessons We Learned From CJI 2
Not all of these lessons are positive unfortunately, but not all of them are negative either. It’s nice to look back on all the great moments that the Craig Jones Invitational delivered to the fans, and there was a lot of them, but it’s more useful to learn from some of their mistakes. It’s not all doom and gloom though, CJI 2 was still a massive weekend for professional grappling and it’s impossible to describe it as anything other than a success. The direction the sport is heading in is genuinely amazing and CJI is a big part of that, but a few minor tweaks could really create something uniquely brilliant.
The Pit Is Still The Answer
Craig Jones has been saying it for quite a while now, and he’s been proven right time and time again. Referees resetting a match when it goes out of bounds causes the match to slow down, as competitors have a forced break in their rhythm. By introducing angled walls, referees will almost never need to reset the match. There wasn’t a single reset throughout the entire of CJI 2 and the action flowed much better for it. Obviously angled walls introduce logistical problems of their own but when even UFC BJJ is taking notice of what you’re doing, you’ve clearly got a good idea.
Aggressive Stalling Calls Are Vital
The primary goal of any professional grappling promotion is always going to be deliver entertainment and although the inaugural CJI absolutely nailed that objective, the second edition fell short at times. The main reason behind that is the Quintet format itself, where a draw can often be a positive outcome for the team. This creatives an incentive for competitors to stall or just survive, but realistically there’s always a way to stall to victory under any ruleset. Jones solved that problem with a $50,000 submission bonus but the answer is really much simpler, just penalise stalling. Although some competitors will still try to stall as much as they can, they will be pushed in to action or risk being disqualified.
The Future Of Female BJJ Is In Safe Hands
The combined age of the finalists in the $100,000 women’s tournament was just 37, and they both beat reigning ADCC world champions to get there. Sarah Galvao also happened to deliver several of the most exciting moments of the tournament during her opening round match and although she lost to Helena Crevar in the final, their rivalry is far from over. The generation of elite female competitors who have just reached the top of the sport are something truly special, and it’s way bigger than just Galvao and Crevar. They demonstrated that fact brilliantly; but Mia Funegra, Ashlee Funegra, and Joslyn Molina are also among the elite teenagers who will dominate the sport in years to come.
The Free Model Might Not Be Sustainable
One of the most important lessons to learn from CJI 2 actually came about several days before the event took place. Jones had been vocal about his belief that keeping the event free to view on YouTube was important for the growth of the sport, but right before the first day he announced that viewing after the live broadcast would be locked behind the FloGrappling paywall. Given that he revealed that the event was due to lose a lot of money shortly before that, the decision made sense from a financial perspective. Most events are already locked behind streaming services or pay-per-view but CJI was rallying against that; a decision to change course is a sign that streaming for free might not be possible for events with big paydays.
Some Competitors Need To Be In More Absolutes
There was plenty of exciting matches but as expected, a handful of lighter competitors really stood out when they excelled despite a size disadvantage. Fabricio Andrey is always a fan-favorite in absolute divisions because of his reputation for bringing the fight to bigger opponents, but there are others who should be invited to absolute tournaments just as often as he is. Dorian Olivarez put on a clinic against Felipe Pena even though they were separated by over 30kg and he proved that his pace can break down the biggest competitors. Alongside him, Kenta Iwamoto really shone through with a pair of incredible performances against men more than 20kg heavier than him and he deserves more big opportunities as a result.
If you want to see how we learned these lessons then the full CJI 2 event replay is available to watch on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
