BJJ legend Mackenzie Dern revealed that she isn’t done with the Craig Jones Invitational, as she wants to make a return at CJI 2. Dern is one of the most popular female BJJ competitors of all time and although she’s been working her way to the top of the UFC over the last few years, she took the time out to make her return to BJJ at the first event. She took on the biggest challenge imaginable by facing Ffion Davies and although she ended up getting submitted, that hasn’t put her off coming back when the promotion makes its return in 2025.
Dern was asked about making a return in her post-fight interview after defeating Amanda Ribas at UFC Vegas 101 and she didn’t hesitate:
“Definitely. (Craig Jones) always brings the money.”
She also explained that she actually has something in common with Jones too:
“It’s a good show. I like how he brings the entertainment to jiu-jitsu. We kind of need that. I think it reaches a lot of different people, which is one of the reasons why I came to MMA: to try and spread jiu-jitsu to people who never even seen martial arts or practice martial arts.”
Dern also elaborated on one of the reasons that she enjoyed CJI so much:
“I don’t know if (Craig Jones) can do lots of events like that, like once a month, but it definitely helps push the purses, and the types of athletes that want to get involved. Last one they had Olympic wrestler fighting jiu-jitsu players. And it’s different inside the pit, so it’s really cool to kind of test us and put our jiu-jitsu against different mat, and different rule set. It’s really cool and definitely helps elevate the jiu-jitsu scene.”
Unfortunately there might be something standing in the way of Mackenzie Dern returning for CJI 2, and its the fact that the UFC are planning on being a major player in the grappling world themselves:
“Last time I fought in Craig Jones’ event, (the UFC) were like ‘you’ve got to fight in our event,’ … the (UFC Fight Pass) Invitational. But yeah, I’d be down (for CJI 2) for sure.”
The full post-fight interview with Mackenzie Dern where she expresses her desire to return for CJI 2 was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of MMAMania:
