This preview of the under 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 under 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: Under 80kg Division Full Preview
There are 16 elite competitors in the Craig Jones Invitational under 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
Kade Ruotolo
Kade Ruotolo is the reigning ADCC world champion at under 77kg and that alone would be enough to see him through to being a favorite. Although he hasn’t been as active as some of his potential opponents since then, he’s still put on several great performances and reconfirmed his position at the top of the division. There is the small matter of him embarking on a professional MMA career though and although that’s gone very well so far, it is something that takes time away from pure grappling. For that reason there are several men in the bracket who might be able to beat Ruotolo head on and win the title.
Tye Ruotolo
Tye Ruotolo is one of the biggest threats to his brother’s success at the Craig Jones Invitational and together they make up half of the favorites in this preview of the under 80kg division. Tye may even have the upper hand as he actually won the last match between them back at brown belt, although that was in the gi and over 3 years ago now. Tye also hasn’t had to spend time preparing for an MMA debut, so a direct match between them may just go in his favor. The only thing known about the bracket so far is that the Ruotolo brothers will be on opposite sides, so they stand out as the most likely final pairing.
Roberto Jimenez
Roberto Jimenez actually holds wins over both Ruotolo brothers from several years ago, and it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him repeat those feats. His last meeting with Kade didn’t go as well though, as he was submitted during Kade’s run to gold at ADCC 2022. He’s managed to turn a corner since then though and he finished 2023 with one of his best performances yet, becoming the IBJJF No Gi Absolute World Champion. His wild and fast-paced style will cause big problems for the heavier competitors in the division and he’s really hit a new technical level over the last two years too, so he may very well end up going all the way.
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa also stood on the podium at ADCC 2022, as he won a silver medal in the under 88kg division. The man who beat him in the final isn’t competing here and more importantly, he will be one of the heaviest athletes in the division. Barbosa is known for having a very physical game and he’s been able to impose his will on competitors in some of the heaviest divisions for years now. It’s not clear exactly what he’ll look like dropping all the way down to under 80kg for the first time, but his style should translate incredibly well to five-minute rounds against smaller opponents.
Contenders
Matheus Diniz
Matheus Diniz is another ADCC world champion competing in this bracket, except he actually won his title back in 2019 and in the under 88kg division. Although it’s been a while since he won a major tournament, Diniz is a very tough opponent for anyone. He has exactly the same unknowns around him as Barbosa, as he too is dropping down to the lowest weight he’s competed at in a long time. Diniz will likely have a size advantage on many of his potential opponents and he definitely has the ability to go all the way, but there are just a handful of more likely winners.
Jozef Chen
Jozef Chen has burst on to the highest level of the professional grappling world in an incredibly short amount of time, but he’s deserving of a spot among the contenders here. Chen had one of the hardest runs in ADCC Trials history last year and he even beat one of his potential opponents along the way. He’s had a great lead in to this tournament too, as he has beaten another potential opponent in the last few months and gave Tye Ruotolo one of the best matches he’s had in a very long time. Chen should be able to win in the opening round unless he comes up against one of the favorites, and he might even be capable of making it to the semi-finals and beyond too.
Andrew Tackett
Andrew Tackett is another young star who has hit a whole new level recently, and he too had a breakthrough performance at ADCC Trials. That alone was enough to prove that he has the skills to make it far in the under 80kg division of the Craig Jones Invitational, but it was the aftermath that made him a contender in this preview. Tackett faced fellow entrant Tommy Langaker at WNO 23 and put on a dominating performance, getting the win by submission. That showed that he is capable of making it through at least one match at CJI and could win more depending on how the bracket unfolds.
Eoghan O’Flanagan
Eoghan O’Flanagan is going to be a very trick opponent for everyone, even the favorites in the bracket. He’s one of the most predictable competitors in the bracket but he is also so good at what he does that only the best in the world can stop him from doing it. It’s almost a guarantee that he will sit to guard and attack the legs, and he’s very aggressive in hunting for the finish. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares against some of the favorites like the Ruotolo brothers and Jimenez, but he should be able to beat at least half the men in the bracket.
Dark Horses
Kenta Iwamoto
Kenta Iwamoto might not be as accomplished as some of the other competitors in this division, but he’s a relentless grappler with fantastic wrestling. He’s won ADCC Trials several times over and he has plenty of experience in stacked brackets, so there won’t be anything here that he hasn’t faced before. Iwamoto’s style is his biggest advantage and if he plays to the ruleset well, the usage of rounds could really work in his favor. It’s an uphill battle, but a perfect tactical approach could see Iwamoto making a run here.
Tommy Langaker
Tommy Langaker is another man who won gold at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship last year and he followed that up with his second ADCC Trials gold medal earlier this year. If this were any other tournament then Langaker would likely be a favorite to win, but this is an incredibly tough division. In fact, Langaker has only lost 4 matches since ADCC 2022 and all of them have been against someone competing at CJI. An unlucky draw may mean a first-round exit for Langaker but there are definitely some winnable matches here and he could string a few of them together.
Levi Jones-Leary
Just like O’Flanagan, Levi Jones-Leary is another grappler who is very predictable but almost unstoppable at the same time. Everyone who stands across from him knows that he’s going to sit to guard and attempt to take their back, but very few can actually stop him. Jones-Leary has a very unique game in no gi grappling and even the smallest errors by any opponent will likely lead to a rear-naked choke win for him. That said, his style is also not well-suited to short rounds and if he can’t find the back then it might be difficult for him to win rounds.
Nicky Ryan
Nicky Ryan is one of the most unpredictable grapplers in the world and for that reason it’s impossible to pick him as either a favorite or an underdog. He doesn’t compete all that often and has lost matches that he probably should have won on a technical level but when he does put it all together, he looks incredible. Ryan can do everything as well as the best in the world on the right day, but it all depends on whether that version of him steps on the mat. Ryan’s end result here will probably be one extreme or the other, he either goes out in the first round or makes it all the way to the final in a series of electric performances.
Underdogs
Andy Varela
Andy Varela has a few favorable matches in the under 80kg division of the Craig Jones Invitational, but not enough for him to be a favorite in this preview. He’s a very exciting competitor regardless though and he has a very rough and gritty style that will definitely make life hard for anyone. It would be a considered a proper upset for Varela to beat any of the favorites here and he’s lost to some of the contenders recently, so it will be a very tough bracket for him regardless of the draw. It’s not impossible for Varela to make a run here, but we’d need to see some upsets in other matches while he plays the perfect game for it to happen.
Magid Hage
Magid Hage is another exciting competitor and he’s going to be throwing everything at his opponents from the moment they step on the mats. He’s a fast-paced competitor with an unpredictable style, so he genuinely could spring an upset on some of the more likely winners. The problem with any tournament though is that it requires sustained success across several matches. It’s unlikely Hage can win all four matches required to leave with a million dollars, but he will leave it all on the mats in his attempt to do so.
Renato Canuto
Similarly to Hage, nobody could ever accuse Renato Canuto of leaving something in the tank. He too is known for exciting matches and he has a talent for flying submissions too, so that’s something everyone will be on the lookout for when he competes. He has the same problem as Hage too though, in that it’s unlikely he’s able to string together four straight wins in one weekend against this level of competition. That doesn’t mean he can’t do it at least once though, and it’ll certainly be entertaining to see him try.
Jason Nolf
Jason Nolf is in a strange situation for this preview of the under 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational. There is an incredible amount of footage of him grappling but almost none of it is under a ruleset that includes submissions. Nolf is a three-time NCAA Division I champion wrestler and he’s only had one Jiu-Jitsu match, although he did win it by submission in a flawless performance. He will definitely be staying standing and working for top position in every match, but there are far too many elite leglockers and guard-players in this tournament for him to go all the way.
