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.
Nicky Rodriguez has just become the latest elite grappler to announce his withdrawal from ADCC 2024 in order to compete at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational instead. Rodriguez is always one of the top contenders at the tournament, and he has managed to come away with a silver medal from both of his appearances at ADCC 2019 and ADCC 2022. He has only been improving as a competitor as the years have gone on and he was coming into this edition with his best chance of winning a title yet, after being invited to return to the over 99kg division for a third time.
His teammate Nicky Ryan also announced his intention to withdraw from ADCC 2024 in favor of CJI and seeing as they both train alongside the promotion’s namesake, neither decision was particularly surprising. Both men are among the four founders of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu alongside the man behind the highest paying grappling tournament ever, Craig Jones. Whether they were predicted to withdraw or not, it doesn’t change the fact that their departure from ADCC 2024 is a blow to the promotion. Rodriguez in particular is one of the more popular competitors at ADCC and his absence will leave a huge hole in the over 99kg division that cannot easily be filled.
He is also the second medalist to withdraw from ADCC 2024 as well, with reigning under 60kg champion Ffion Davies also announcing that she would be competing at CJI instead. If the first few announcements are anything to go by, it seems as though Nicky Rodriguez might not be the last medalist to turn down his ADCC 2024 invite in favor of CJI. It’s understandable too, as Craig Jones has secured a million dollars in prize money for the winner of each division and is paying every athlete $10,000 just to compete. Competitors have to make the choice between one tournament or the other too, as CJI will take place on the very same weekend as ADCC 2024.
Nicky Rodriguez announced the news that he was going to withdraw from ADCC 2024 in order to compete in the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
