This preview of the over 80kg division 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.
The Craig Jones Invitational is scheduled for August 16th and 17th, 2024 and we’ve put together a full preview of the incredible over 80kg division. The full competitor list for both the under and over 80kg brackets can be found here, but this article will be breaking down the individual chances of each competitor in this weight class. Every single grappler in the lineup is at the very top of the sport and any one of them could win, although some do have better chances than others on paper. With a million dollars on the line for the winner, every competitor will be giving everything they can to walk away with the grand prize.
Craig Jones Invitational: Over 80kg Division Full Preview
There are 16 elite competitors in the Craig Jones Invitational over 80kg division, so this preview will split them into groups of 4 judging by how good their chances are of winning the tournament. The favorites, as the name suggests, are the 4 most likely to win the tournament and will probably end up as the semi-finalists depending on the draw. The contenders are the 4 who are most likely to make it to the quarter-finals and although they aren’t favorites, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see them go further. The dark horses and underdogs are the 8 who will most likely go out in the opening round, but the dark horses have the best chance of causing an upset and making a run in the bracket.
Favorites
Nicky Rodriguez
Nicky Rodriguez is a two-time ADCC silver medalist and although he’s never won that tournament, he has beaten many of the best grapplers in the world in his relatively short career. There are plenty of new matches waiting for him in this division and there might be some surprises along the way, but his fantastic wrestling for BJJ will make him a big favorite under this format. His biggest challenges stylistically will probably actually come from the superior wrestlers in the bracket, but beyond that he should have the tactical advantage over most competitors.
Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo is one of the most accomplished competitors in this bracket and although most of his titles have been won in the gi, he’s a force to be reckoned with in no gi as well. He’s been on a great run lately and has actually beaten three of his potential opponents over the last two years; including a recent decision win over his biggest opposition here, Rodriguez, at WNO 24. Hugo is well-rounded, a big submission threat, and is notoriously hard to submit. All of this combined means that anyone looking to beat him will probably have to outwork him across all three rounds in order to win.
Joao Gabriel Rocha
Joao Gabriel Rocha was at one point in time considered to be one of the top prospects in the sport and even won a pair of ADCC silver medals in 2013 and 2015. Rocha has not been particularly active over the last few years so it’s tough to gauge where he stands in the division at present. If Rocha can reach the same level he did back then, it’s not impossible for him to win the whole thing. Even if he can’t, he should still be a serious threat who to anyone in the division.
William Tackett
William Tackett might be the physical underdog in every single potential matchup in the over 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational, but his skill level makes him a contender in this preview. He’s a two-time ADCC Trials winner and has stood on the podium another two times after that, first at 77kg and then at 88kg more recently. Although he will be the smallest man in the entire bracket, he’s also going to have both a speed and cardio advantage that play right into his strengths. With relentless pace and a superb finishing rate, Tackett will likely be able to submit quite a few of the men in this bracket.
Contenders
Kyle Boehm
Kyle Boehm is one of the top 10th Planet representatives competing right now and he has a great track record against elite opponents. He’s fairly solid in all areas and doesn’t have any notable holes in his game, but he does have one pretty big advantage over most of his potential opponents. Boehm has fantastic leglocks in general but compared to the rest of this division, he is particularly skilled there. If he plays to his strengths then he should do very well against the majority of his opponents here.
Luke Rockhold
Luke Rockhold is getting massively overlooked by most people in the build up to the Craig Jones Invitational but he’s a clear dark horse in this preview of the over 80kg division. It’s understandable of course, as his combat sports career has been almost entirely focused on MMA during his athletic prime. Not only was he known for his elite grappling in his UFC and StrikeForce runs, but he has also won an IBJJF No Gi World Championship as a purple belt back in 2007. If he takes his preparation seriously, and it seems like he has, he could cause some huge upsets here.
Owen Livesey
Owen Livesey is a standing grappler first and foremost, using a mixture of Judo and wrestling to great success. He probably has the best footsweeps in the sport, but doesn’t often follow them up by securing top position. This should work well under this ruleset, as his constant aggression will probably score pretty highly with the judges. Similarly to Rodriguez, his biggest stylistic challenges will be the more accomplished wrestlers who will be capable of beating him where he’s strongest.
Fellipe Andrew
Fellipe Andrew is a genuinely incredible competitor in the gi, and he’s won literally everything there is to win in that format. Andrew has won hundreds of matches against the best grapplers in the world and has even beaten a few of the other men in this bracket. Hugo is his kryptonite though as he’s lost all 4 matches he’s had against him, and that isn’t his only challenge here. Andrew is also primarily a gi competitor and he’s going to find things difficult when he faces the men in this bracket who focus solely on no gi.
Dark Horses
Max Gimenis
Max Gimenis is a veteran competitor with great tactical knowledge and a well-rounded game, so he’s always a tough opponent. He’s actually already come up against four of his potential opponents in the past, but his record against them is actually 1-12 over the years. That obviously doesn’t bode well for Gimenis’ chances in the bracket but you also can’t count him out completely. He recently pulled off an upset win over Dan Manasoui at Pit Submission Series 1, so he definitely has what it takes to cause another upset here.
Inacio Santos
Inacio Santos fell just short of a medal at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship 2023, falling in the quarter-finals of both the absolute and his weight class. He’s gone on a great run since then and hasn’t lost a match yet in 2024, a run that includes his ADCC South American Trials gold medal. He’s only ever faced one of his potential opponents before and although that was a win, it’s tough to predict how he’ll fare against so many new challenges. Santos’ main strength is actually his literal strength, as he’s a competitive powerlifter and will be able to outwork most men in this bracket on a physical level.
Daniel Greg Kerkvliet
Daniel Greg Kerkvliet has exactly zero competitive BJJ experience, but he also happens to have the highest level of wrestling experience in the division. Kerkvliet is a three-time NCAA Division I All-American and recently won the title for the first time, so he will almost certainly get the takedown or at least force his opponents to pull guard. At around 250lbs and 6’2, he’s one of of the most physically imposing men in the bracket and as long as he can adapt to threat of submission and stay safe, he can win a decision against almost anyone.
Mahamed Aly
Mahamed Aly was among the best in the world at one point in time and his crowning achievement was winning the IBJJF World Championship in both gi and no gi. He’s even beaten several of the men in this bracket already too, but he’s also been absent from BJJ competition for a while. Aly has not competed in a grappling match in around 3 years, as he’s been focusing more on kickstarting his professional MMA career. He’s still an elite competitor but with so much time spent developing his striking in recent years, Aly may have some trouble with the more active grapplers in the bracket.
Underdogs
Adam Bradley
Adam Bradley might not be as well-known as most of the other competitors in this preview of the over 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational, but he’s still a very talented grapplers. He’s spent years training under Andre Galvao at ATOS and has recently made the move to B-Team Jiu-Jitsu, so he’s had no shortage of incredible training partners over his career. He recently hit the highest point of his competitive career with a silver medal at ADCC West Coast Trials and he even beat Boehm along the way, so picking up some wins here is clearly not out of reach.
Pat Downey
Pat Downey is the final standing grappling expert in this bracket and he too will be looking to use his elite wrestling to control his matches from start to finish. Downey is actually like the middle ground between Rodriguez and Kerkvliet; with less BJJ experience and a higher level of wrestling success than Rodriguez, but more BJJ experience and a lower level of wrestling success than Kerkvliet. There are opponents in this bracket that Downey could beat, but it would take something very special for him to make a deep run.
Lucas Kanard
Lucas Kanard only joined the over 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational just two weeks before it takes place, but he was already preparing for the biggest tournament of his life anyway. He’s one of the top competitors in Australia and he won the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials earlier this year, but this is a whole new level of competition. Kanard is very talented though and he could beat some of the men in this bracket, so how far he goes probably depends more on how the draw unfolds.
Pedro Alex
Pedro Alex has beaten many of the best grapplers in the heaviest weight classes over the last few years and if he’s able to put it together on the night then he could be a real threat. He’s had mixed results at major IBJJF events in the past but he earned the biggest achievement of his career just recently when he won a silver medal at the IBJJF World Championship this year. There are a lot of tough matches here for Alex but there’s some winnable ones too, so he’ll need a favorable draw if he wants to make a deep run.
