Craig Jones Invitational Recap From A Judge's Perspective
Overall impressions from the best seats in the house
I was invited to work at the Craig Jones Invitational event as a judge and I will share some thoughts on the preparations that went into it, judging the razor-close -80kg final, my coldest moment of the night and the most electric thing I’ve felt at a jiu-jitsu tournament.
First, let’s acknowledge that one of the things that jiu-jitsu has struggled to achieve in the last thirty years is the breakthrough to the ‘casuals’. The people who don’t practice or watch jiu-jitsu. To those who may have only briefly tried it in the past or watched a couple of clips online.
Something noticeably different for me in the aftermath of yesterday’s CJI finals is that I’ve been hearing from my non-jiu-jitsu friends how much they enjoyed the event and became captivated by the spectacle. I’ve also seen plenty of commenters on the internet claiming that this is the first time they’ve enjoyed a grappling show. I think it’s safe to say this event was a massive success in multiple ways, but this broader appeal may be the most consequential.
Working with the referees and the other judges
In the lead-up to the event, the judge and referee team met weekly and covered dozens upon dozens of rounds, scored them, and discussed the scores to ensure fair judging. With a brand new ruleset, a 10-9 must system, AND open scoring, everyone wanted to make sure that judging was not a stain on the event and that the huge prizes go to the most deserving person.
This event had more judge accountability than most combat sports events
This event had more accountability for the judges than any event I’ve seen in grappling. I think if you’re agreeing to judge which one of your peers deserves a million freaking dollars, you better be ok with your name announced to 7500 in attendance and 100,000 people on the stream along with the score.
Judging the $1 million dollar final, -80kg
The final of the best bracket in grappling history came down to the wire. As is expected with such a tightly contested match, there is some amount of controversy.
Let's get this straight first, there was no robbery
There was no “robbery” in this match. The term robbery in the 10-point must system is reserved for situations where a fighter is overwhelmingly dominant, yet the fight is scored for the other person. By definition, close matches are not robberies. You can disagree with the outcome, but it’s not a robbery.
I’m about to explain my view of the match, but I want to add a disclaimer that this is my recollection after just watching the match live, without my notes in front of me.
Under CJI rules there is no penalty for pulling and playing guard. You are not allowed to flop to supine without grips, but you are allowed to sit down. After you do so you must move towards your opponent to engage and they are required to engage in guard passing.
Determinations of stalling, the warnings, and the penalties related to them are in the domain of the referee, not the judges.
My scores for the match
In rounds 1 & 2 Levi initiated action using de la Riva, reverse de la Riva and K-guard techniques that were effective in getting him into favorable leg entanglements and gave him back exposure. Kade did not have success in getting past any layer of Levi’s guard or initiating strong passing positions. The rounds were very close but based on the #1 criterion of the rules they had to be awarded to Levi for initiating the more effective actions.
In rounds 3, 4 & 5 Kade had the edge in aggression and more success in getting past at least some of the layers of the guards that Levi was employing. At times, he was using the knee cut and north-south pass attempts to get closer to passing Levi’s formidable guard. The guard passer in the ruleset is just as required to get past the guard as the guard player is to get a sweep or submission. Kade had more success imposing his game and putting Levi on the defensive.
For just about every round, one solid attack from either person could’ve swayed the round in their favor. These are some quick thoughts on the scoring, more detailed ones will be saved for the debrief with the other officials.
Kade Routolo vs. Andrew Tackett – Grappling’s Griffin vs. Bonnar moment?
I mentioned earlier how I’ve been hearing from people who are not typically tuned into grappling. Everyone is mentioning the match in the second semifinal of the -80kg bracket. I was paying very close attention to this exchange, and it did occur to me when I punched in the final score and allowed myself to think about it as a fan, that this may have been the best match I’ve ever watched.
Moments later, the entire arena started chanting “One more round, one more round, one more round” which was probably the most electric moment I’ve experienced in the sport, the only thing that comes close is Lachlan Giles’ ADCC 2019 submission run. If there is a list of top matches to show people you want to get excited about grappling, this one is probably it.
Kade got his big payday, but it was very cool to see Andrew receive a $20,000 prize for ‘Most Exciting Fighter’. Well deserved for the amazing performances and for being the first athlete to officially join the event, which had a big impact in legitimizing it.
The coldest moment of the tournament
I was not judging this match, but the coldest moment of the tournament goes to Nicky Rod submitting Adam Bradley, which is not an easy feat, and then calmly walking to his spot next to the referee, patiently waiting with his hands behind his back until the official announcement. Overall Nicky was a blessing for the judges, winning with straight submissions. The $1 million callout was also a great moment and hopefully, that match will happen.
Overall, an amazing event, congratulations to everyone involved. I will put the replays below.
Where to send complaints?
If you have complaints about my judging, I would love to hear them. To send one, buy my best-selling book Modern Submission Grappling: A No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Manual, tear out the first page, write down your complaint and send it to me. If you have multiple complaints, I’d love to hear them. Buy another copy of the book and repeat the cycle until you hear back from me…