Craig Jones is known for being one of the most outspoken members of the BJJ world and he recently levied some criticism against both Ffion Davies and Mikey Musumeci for signing exclusive contracts with UFC BJJ. It’s far from the first time that the topic has come up, as exclusive contracts are one of the elements of the sport that Jones has repeatedly spoken out against. They’re a fairly new concept when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu but we already have the perfect case study to look to in MMA. They’re commonplace there and the effects that they have on the sport is pretty clear.
Jones actually referenced this comparison to MMA and how the UFC essentially have control over it, to make a point about what Jiu-Jitsu could end up becoming:
“We’re not like MMA today. There’s not a monopoly over grappling, but by signing these exclusive deals, you’re setting us on a path towards that territory where we’ll have less power as a group of athletes… If they crush all the competition, you have nowhere else to go. What incentive do they have to pay you more? That’s my concern with this.”
That’s when he brought up Davies, in order to use her as an example of how exclusive contracts can restrict competition:
“When they signed Ffion Davies, they signed arguably the best female grappler in the world. And my problem with Ffion, and again, she was always pro-women’s grappling as a whole. And I’m like, alright, if you want women’s grappling to grow, I understand the mindset of ‘attach yourself to the UFC’… But for the other female competitors that are really, really good, they might get offered s*** money. Now the only opportunity they have to test themselves against you, is to sign potentially a s***** contract. So I think you’re hamstringing the sport as a whole.”
He actually has a solution to that problem in mind already too:
“We need events like CJI where the best face the best. And we need an area where you can go to other organizations, you can shop your match offer. If you’re about the money, you can shop that offer around and potentially get more money.”
Jones has already booked four of the best female grapplers in the world for the CJI 2 lineup, where they’ll be competing for $100,000. Davies would undoubtedly have been welcome to compete in that bracket too, but they are now going ahead without her. Jones then reiterated his call for other competitors to join him in rejecting them:
“Right now, we as individual athletes have a ton of power by saying no to exclusive contracts. If the UFC wants to do a grappling event, they will sign one off deals. They will do it… We have an opportunity now to hold the line. We’re putting the onus on the UFC to meet us at our standards, because as it stands now, they’ve got good athletes. They’ve got an American targeted audience. They’ve secured very good American grapplers.”
One of the American grapplers that Craig Jones is talking about is Mikey Musumeci, and he then explained why he thinks his decision to sign with UFC BJJ is potentially ‘hamstringing the sport’ like he accused Ffion Davies of doing:
”But I want to know why Mikey (Musumeci) sort of did that deal. He’s endorsing these exclusive contracts that I don’t think are a necessity… If Mikey wants to face the best guys in the world, he’s not doing that. My big problem with these guys that sign with the UFC, now you will only face who’s willing to sign with the UFC. So you might not face the best grapplers in the world… If those other grapplers don’t want to sign these exclusive deals, then you’ll be forced to face – (Rerisson Gabriel) had never had a no gi match. Like, have you just sold out completely?… Don’t sit here and pretend that by signing with the UFC you’re the number one grappler in the world and you’re gonna face the best grapplers in the world… It’s a selfish decision to make.”
The full interview with Craig Jones where he explains his criticism of athletes like Mikey Musumeci and Ffion Davies signing exclusive contracts with UFC BJJ was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Demetrious Johnson:
