This article 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.
Mason Fowler has just been announced as the latest competitor to enter the Craig Jones Invitational on August 16th and 17th, 2024 despite originally being signed up for ADCC 2024. He is the latest in a series of grapplers who received invites to ADCC and were officially confirmed for the lineup, but have since decided to leave in favor of the new event that was created by Craig Jones. The main reason that so many athletes have chosen to turn down their invites was very clear right from the start, as Jones was able to secure an incredible million dollar prize for every division and he will be paying everyone $10,000 to compete.
Fowler competed in the under 88kg weight class at ADCC 2022 and 2019, and he was intending to move up to under 99kg for this year’s event. That means that he’s clearly going to be competing in the over 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational, and he’s going to have some tough opposition waiting for him already even though the announcements for the division have only just begun. Nicky Rodriguez was the most recent athlete confirmed before Fowler and he stands out as the top contender to take home the title, but Fowler will be eager to get revenge against Rodriguez after he lost on points to him in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7.
There will be plenty of new opponents waiting for Fowler in the bracket too, including former UFC middleweight world champion Luke Rockhold. With just 4 out of the 16 grapplers confirmed for the over 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational, it’ll be interesting to see who else decides to make the change from ADCC and what other big names will be invited. With a million dollars available for whoever can emerge victorious, it’s clear that everyone who steps on the mats at the Craig Jones Invitational will be fighting tooth and nail to win.
The Craig Jones Invitational announced the news that Mason Fowler was going to join the tournament in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
