It’s just been reported by MMAMania that Ffion Davies has now become the latest elite Jiu-Jitsu competitor to sign an exclusive contract to compete with UFC Fight Pass Invitational. This is just the latest signing that the promotion has managed to secure, and they clearly have big plans for the future of grappling. It’s no surprise that the UFC is able to have a huge impact on the sport now that they’ve set their mind to it, as they have incredible experience in combat sports promotion. It doesn’t hurt that they also make more money on a single MMA event than many grappling promotions ever will.
They took things pretty slowly to begin with and staged a few grappling events before the UFC Fight Pass Invitational really took shape. Since those early days, it has become one of the biggest promotions in the sport with multiple events each year. It was only a few months ago that they took the next step in their development by signing Mikey Musumeci to an exclusive contract. It was a huge move and it was clear from the start that it was going to be the first of many. That’s when rumors started swirling that the UFC had already approached other major figures in the sport, and sources confirmed to us that the promotion was building a full league.
Dana White even confirmed that the promotion was throwing over $10 million at Jiu-Jitsu over the course of this year, and that kind of money could easily secure the services of the biggest stars in the sport. There even appears to be plans for a grappling reality show featuring Musumeci and Gordon Ryan, another huge undertaking that should help to bring Jiu-Jitsu into the mainstream. The grapplers who will be competing on that show or signing a lucrative contract with UFC Fight Pass Invitational have yet to be confirmed, but now it appears as though Ffion Davies is at least one of the latter.
She had already signed an exclusive European contract with Polaris prior to this, but they already announced that her next appearance there was going to be her last. She is about to serve as the Captain for Team Europe at the first ever female Squads event at Polaris 32, but she’ll be moving on to bigger things afterward; win or lose. UFC Fight Pass Invitational have already begun preparations for their next event too, even announcing that Davies will be among those competing. They haven’t announced any specific matches yet though, so there’s some speculation around who she might be facing.
There’s plenty of interesting opponents for her to face in the first match of this new contract, but there’s one woman who stands out above all the rest. Davies had to withdraw from her main event match with Adele Fornarino at UFC FPI 10 due to injury and that rematch is still hotly-anticipated. The two women first met almost three years ago now, back in the opening round of ADCC 2022. Davies won that match but a lot has changed since then for both women, and Fornarino in particular is coming off the best performance of her career so far at ADCC 2024.
