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.
Mikey Musumeci has just explained the reason behind his decision to withdraw from the superfight he had booked for the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational. The news initially came as a shock to fans, and many will have been disappointed after initially being excited to watch him compete. Rather than competing in the under 80kg tournament taking place at CJI, Musumeci was announced as having a superfight booked for the event instead. There was no opponent announced at first so naturally there was plenty of speculation as to who he would end up facing.
Then before any opponent was ever confirmed, Craig Jones himself confirmed that Musumeci would no longer be competing at all. At first there was no news as to why and again, there was speculation that Musumeci might be injured or might have faced contractual issues with ONE Championship. Now that Mikey Musumeci has spoken out, he’s been able to clear the air and explain that his reason for withdrawing from the Craig Jones Invitational is actually nothing to do with him. He hinted at the prospect of a legendary match but explained that it fell through before being fully agreed.
Now it seems like the world will never know who Craig Jones intended to match Musumeci up against but if Musumeci is to be believed, it sounds as though it would’ve been a great matchup. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise though, as the rest of the lineup for the Craig Jones Invitational is fantastic. Both the under and over 80kg tournament brackets are packed with elite competitors and there’s two other superfights featuring some of the biggest names in the sport. Ffion Davies will face Mackenzie Dern in an incredible match between two BJJ legends, and there’s also the long-awaited intergender match between Craig Jones and Gabi Garcia.
Mikey Musumeci shared the reason for withdrawing from his superfight at the Craig Jones Invitational in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
