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.
Craig Jones has just shared proof that he has placed a $100,000 bet on himself in his upcoming match with Gabi Garcia at the Craig Jones Invitational, on him submitting her with a leglock. It’s not completely unheard of for BJJ competitors or other combat sports stars to bet on themselves in big matches, but this would be the first time that Jones has publicly done so. That fact combined with the sheer amount of money he’s willing to put on the line shows that he clearly has a lot of faith in his ability to finish Garcia with a leg attack.
The match itself is one of the most long-awaited in the history of the sport, as the negotiations around it first began well over 3 years ago. Not only has it been a long time coming, but it’s also perhaps the most unique matchup in the professional grappling world. Not only is it an intergender match between two incredible grapplers, but the interesting twist is that Garcia actually outweighs Jones and is the more accomplished competitor too. That meant that there was a ton of attention around the announcement that the intergender match would finally take place at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational.
Craig Jones has already shown his confidence before by vowing to retire if he lost to Gabi Garcia, but now he’s actually chosen his method of victory as a leglock too. It makes sense that Jones would have confidence in his leglocking abilities, given that he originally made his name by being an elite leglocker. On the other hand Garcia is incredibly hard to submit and despite being a black belt since 2008, she was only submitted for the very first time in her career in 2021. She has never been leglocked either, and she’s faced virtually all of the best female competitors of her era.
Although this is undoubtedly one of the most interesting matches happening at the Craig Jones Invitational, there’s also an amazing superfight between Ffion Davies and Mackenzie Dern booked for the first day. Outside of the superfights, the main attraction for the event is of course the incredible lineup of elite competitors in both the under and over 80kg divisions. No matter which way any of these matches go, the event is sure to be a success thanks to the top talent preparing to hit the mats.
Craig Jones shared the proof that he had bet $100,000 on himself to submit Gabi Garcia with a leglock in a recent post to his official Instagram account: