This article is part of our Craig Jones Invitational 2024 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
Yet another elite competitor has now left ADCC 2024, as Andy Varela has left in order to compete in the Craig Jones Invitational. Varela is now the latest grappler to make this decision, and he’s one of many who have left the under 77kg division of ADCC in particular. While each one of the competitors who pull out are going to be frustrating for Mo Jassim and the other minds behind ADCC, Varela is going to sting for another big reason. He was actually a later addition himself, as he was brought in to replace Andrew Tackett when he also left for the Craig Jones Invitational.
Varela will now be competing in the under 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational instead and he is one of the most exciting grapplers involved. The full lineup for the bracket is incredible though, and he will have some of the toughest opposition in the world standing in his way. Varela will be very tough to beat himself though, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go on a deep run through the bracket. With a million dollars on the line for the winner, there’s going to be some very determined men looking to claim the grand prize.
Although the Craig Jones Invitational will be offering the biggest prize in the history of professional grappling, Andy Varela is no stranger to big paydays. He actually recently won the $20,000 grand prize on offer for the 6th season of PGF World, putting on some very entertaining matches along the way. Varela has been a top competitor for long before that impressive performance though, and he even won a bronze medal at the ADCC North American West Coast Trials shortly before that. He’s actually already an ADCC veteran too, as he was invited to make his promotional debut back at ADCC 2022 after another impressive ADCC Trials performance.
The Craig Jones Invitational announced the news that Andy Varela was competing in the under 80kg division instead of ADCC 2024 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
