Ffion Davies is one of the most successful female BJJ competitors ever and she recently shared her thoughts on the second edition of the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI 2) and their recent addition of a women’s division. She holds a unique place as the only woman to win a match at CJI, as she beat Mackenzie Dern in the sole female superfight of their first event. The promotion has made several changes for their second event though and one of them has been the increase in female representation, as there will now be a four-woman tournament bracket with a $100,000 grand prize instead.
It’s the biggest prize money in female BJJ history and a huge step forward for the sport, and naturally the topic came up in a recent interview. It took place immediately after Davies beat Adele Fornarino in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 11, and she was asked about her stance on the current battle going on between the promotion’s founder and namesake, Craig Jones, and the promotions like the UFC pushing for exclusive contracts:
“My stance is going to come as a female athlete and if you look at CJI, they don’t have a women’s division. I think they’re now being bullied into putting a women’s division on.”
Jones has been outspoken against exclusive contracts in BJJ and it’s not hard to see why, as they’ve done a tremendous amount of damage in MMA already. They’re already in BJJ whether we like it or not though unfortunately, and Davies is one of several athletes to reportedly sign one with the UFC. She was clear that she sees it as a positive for herself though:
“I can only speak for myself. I have no desire to beg people for a place on a card anymore. I used to do it. I used to go: “Please help me. Please, please, please.” I don’t want to do that anymore. I just got put as main event on the biggest platform there is. I’m not begging for a spot anymore.”
She then reiterated that CJI 2 is not on her list of priorities right now, as there’s other opportunities that might be waiting for Ffion Davies in the near-future:
“If there’s a division, I would love to be a part of it. But to be honest I would much rather fight for a belt with the UFC. If that’s a possibility, I would love to do it. A 135-pound belt would be phenomenal.”
She finished off by making it clear that she has no ill will towards the event, but she’s happy where she is right now and it seems like she won’t be added to the CJI 2 lineup any time soon:
“I wish CJI the best. I think it was a great show. I was really glad to be part of it. I think it made huge waves and there’s no questioning it was an amazing event. I wish them the best in this event but unless it’s a women’s division I’m not interested, and I’m very happy with my contract.”
The full interview with Ffion Davies where she talks about CJI 2 and her contract with the UFC was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of MMAMania:
