Dan Manasoiu will sadly no longer be competing in CJI 2 after contracting an illness just weeks before it takes place, but Craig Jones has started dropping hints that he will be the one to replace him at New Wave Jiu-Jitsu. It would be one of the craziest twists in BJJ history but it still seems hard to believe given the rivalry that Jones has had with Gordon Ryan. Although Ryan won’t be competing at the event himself, there’s been so much said in public between the two men that it’s unlikely he’d be happy with this change to the team’s lineup.
There aren’t many choices out there this close to the event though unfortunately, as many of the world’s best heavyweight competitors are already included in the CJI 2 lineup elsewhere. Manasoiu was one of the top contenders in the over 99kg division after he came away with a bronze medal in that weight class at ADCC 2024, as the champion Felipe Pena is already representing ATOS and the silver medal went to Manasoiu’s teammate and their CJI 2 under 99kg representative; Luke Griffith. That does allow some room for manoeuvring though, as Griffith would easily be comfortable moving back up to over 99kg to allow them to find an under 99kg competitor instead.
New Wave Jiu-Jitsu don’t have too many options at either weight class unfortunately, and that’s where Craig Jones’ recent announcement for CJI 2 comes into play. Originally each team was allowed to have one wildcard entry, where they could bring in someone from another team to plug a gap. New Wave originally used this to bring Mica Galvao on board at under 77kg, but Jones later revealed that he was increasing the wildcard slots to 2 per team instead. This means that they can now look for any under or over 99kg competitor in the world, which gives them a lot more choice.
Recent videos uploaded to the official CJI instagram account showed that Manasoiu was officially withdrawing after contracting Lyme disease and that John Danaher was now looking for a replacement. Within a matter of minutes, Jones uploaded a video that jokingly claimed that he was going to step in as Manasoiu’s replacement. He famously competed at under 99kg multiple times at ADCC and obviously has an existing relationship with Danaher, but there are a few obstacles that cast some doubt on the idea. Most notably the fact that Jones already has a superfight against elite wrestler Gable Steveson booked for the event.
Taking part in a Quintet style tournament over two days and finishing it off with a superfight would be a massive challenge, and it would take a huge toll on Jones’ body. He would also run the risk of getting injured during the tournament and having to pull out of the headline match too. Jones has a history of throwing wild statements out there without them being true, but he’s also delivered on a number of crazy suggestions over the years too. In fact, the Craig Jones Invitational itself was something that the BJJ world doubted for several weeks, until he started to make it a reality.
Craig Jones made the hint that he would be replacing Dan Manasoiu on the New Wave Jiu-Jitsu team at CJI 2 in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
