Top 5 Matches from CJI

This event had it all

I put up a poll on my Instagram (@PresleyBJJ) a few days ago. It asked people to vote between me writing an article on my top 5 Craig Jones Invitational matches or a CJI event recap. The top 5 won.

I’ll give my top 5 matches and why I picked them, and also a few quick thoughts on the CJI event overall.

Just so you know I did watch every match.

Top 5 matches

What makes for an awesome BJJ competition match? Is it submission attempts? Takedowns? Back-and-forth action? A wild and crazy crowd? I believe it’s all of those things combined. Anyone who’s rolled in a BJJ class before knows that when people are watching you roll it just makes things a little more exciting.

Excitement isn’t the only factor. I also enjoy strategy, comebacks, seeing an underdog overcome the odds. These are the top 5 matches I enjoyed the most watching CJI.

5 - Nicky Rodriguez vs. Max Gimenis - First round over 80kg

The first match of the show always sets the tone for the event. It was smart to put Nicky Rod out first as he always pushes the action.

There were other matches that you could argue were more technical. However, this match right off the start had exciting takedowns, it had use of the pit walls, and finished with a classic RNC submission. At one point Nicky Rod went for a takedown, and Max countered by throwing Rodriguez off the wall! It looked like something out of a cartoon.

This match got everyone excited about CJI. After watching it live I was like “Oh, wow. This is for real and it’s exciting to watch.”

4 - William Tackett vs. Joao Gabriel Rocha - First round over 80kg

This match is what BJJ is meant to be.

William Tackett is the next evolution of BJJ. He’s only 23 years old. He’s an awesome wrestler who can take you down, play guard, and quickly transition to attacking your legs with submissions. He has skills top, bottom and standing. Joao Gabriel Rocha is a former ADCC champion and some may not know, he is a survivor of cancer.

Tackett was 60 pounds lighter than Rocha. William came out at the start and took the fight right to Joao. Tackett used an exciting wrestling scramble to move into mount before Rocha used his size and strength to bridge him over and get on top. This match had a little bit of everything including a clash of heads with a headbutt that cut Rocha open. He was bleeding from the top of his head. That was only the first round!

Tackett took the first on all 3 judges scorecards. Rocha showed why he’s a champion by taking Tackett down with a big uchi mata judo throw. Rocha controlled most of the second round. Tackett stole the round in the last minute.

I have a theory, anytime you are being judged by rounds it is much better to win the second half of the round instead of the first half of the round. Why? Recency bias. The judges will likely forget whatever you did in the first minute, but they will immediately remember what happened in the last minute.

Rocha battled back with a dominant third round. 10-8. Rocha took William down to mount with a trip and worked an arm triangle submission for most of the round. Rocha dug deep with the comeback and won a judges decision. You gotta feel for William Tackett who was in tears along with his brother in his corner after the match. He fought his heart out.

3 - Jozef Chen vs. Lucas Barbosa - 2nd round under 80kg

Commentator Brandon “BMac” Mccaghren (who was great by the way) explained this matchup best with this quote. “This match is the physicality of Hulk against the technical precision of Chen.”

Jozef Chen is the scientist of BJJ. He has my favourite top game in all of BJJ right now. His guard passing and high tripod guard passing is so smooth to watch. I have been trying to replicate it in training.

The first few minutes were a chess match on the feet. Chen hit the first big offensive move by arm dragging Hulk and going into a beautiful back take before Hulk quickly escaped. 10-9 Chen.

Second round was pretty nothing. Both guys being more conservative. 10-9 Hulk.

Third round Chen used a well timed double leg to jump on Hulk’s back. Hulk’s defence is so good. He basically just “Hulked” his way out of danger when most would have gotten finished there. Chen pulls guard, likely confident he can retain guard for the last two minutes and win on judges scorecards.

An unexpected submission finish. Down on the score cards, Hulk threw on a knee crush/calf slicer submission and got the tap! I have never seen Hulk go for that submission before.

2 - Tye Ruotolo vs. Jason Nolf - 2nd round under 80kg

This was the first round match I was looking forward to the most in the entire CJI and it delivered big time. Jason Nolf (three-time USA national wrestling champion) is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Tye Ruotolo is one of the best BJJ artists in the world.

Tye Ruotolo said in an interview before the match that he has never pulled guard in his BJJ career. His plan was to take Nolf down.

First round Tye initiated most of the attacks but Nolf showed how good is wrestling is by shutting down every attempt. Nolf had a good double leg but landed in a tight looking guillotine choke. Thankfully Nolf escaped that. 10-9 Tye’s round.

Second round started out hot. Nolf jumped for a flying armbar that was not close but looked cool. Tye was attempting a lot of foot sweeps. Nolf timed one foot sweep attempt and picked Ruotolo up on a takedown and slammed him down pretty hard.

Nolf hit a misdirection double leg. He literally pointed like “look over there” and shot a double leg on Tye. I gotta try that in training. Tye was able to turn the double into a front headlock/darce and then a crucifix.

This was insane. Tye locks up a side triangle choke from crucifix. Nolf stands up and jumps into the pit wall trying to break the lock of the triangle choke. It didn’t work. They landed back on the ground. It didn’t look like the choke was tight but the angle of Nolf’s neck looked nasty. Tye also attacked an ankle lock while still holding the triangle as the round timer sounded. Wow.

Round three. Tye seems to be establishing dominance on the ground exchanges while still relentlessly attacking from standing. This match is awesome. A lot of collar ties and hand fighting in the final round.

With just under 2 minutes left, Tye attempts a really nice looking outside trip. Nolf’s wrestling defence is crazy. He cannot be put on his back. Tye lands in bottom half guard from the scramble and immediately gets to work. Nolf attempts to stand and Tye gets underneath him, off balances Nolf, and finishes the match with the knee bar submission.

This was the first match in the under 80kg bracket and it really set the tone.

1 - Kade Ruotolo vs. Andrew Tackett (Under 80kg semifinals)

This was the best BJJ match that I have ever seen.

Some say it was BJJ’s Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar moment. What that means is, before UFC became incredibly popular in 2005 the first season of the reality show called “The Ultimate Fighter” ended with a fight (Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar) that was so exciting people started calling each other during the fight telling each other that they needed to watch. It became one of the most legendary, most exciting and most talked about fights in UFC history, viewed by millions of people.

Tackett vs. Ruotolo was unreal. It was nonstop action for the entire 15 minutes. Andrew Tackett was able to get an advantage in the first round and secure back control on Kade. 10-9 Tackett. Kade made a strong comeback to win round 2. Score all tied going in the last round.

There were some awesome wrestling exchanges, nonstop submission attempts and a lot of use of the pit walls.

It should be noted if this was a regular BJJ match, it would’ve went out of bounds multiple times and we likely would not have had the same amount of exciting action.

The crowd was losing their minds the entire time. The crowd chanted “one more round” after the match ended. I have never heard that at a BJJ event before.

There were several submission attempts. Tackett almost secured a rear naked choke in the first. Ruotolo hit an incredible flying scissor takedown, countering Tackett’s single leg into an attempted heel hook.

The judges scoring was really close. I found myself wanting Andrew Tackett to win. But Kade put a pace on Andrew that made it difficult to keep up with. It reminded me of what Tackett did to Nicky Ryan in the first round, start out at a high pace and never let up. Tackett had a strong third round.

I wouldn’t have been mad if the judge’s decision went to Tackett.

The future rematch will be incredible.

Best BJJ match ever?

When I think about the best BJJ matches I have ever seen there’s only a few that come to mind. Kron Gracie vs. Garry Tonon. Buchecha vs. Rodolfo Vieira.

What Tackett/Ruotolo had that the others don’t is a million dollars on the line. That raises the stakes and interest significantly. Also having a loud, screaming crowd of thousands of people in Las Vegas makes things a pretty big deal. You can have a great match but if there’s no crowd to take it in and cheer it feels less meaningful.

No Levi-Jones Leary??

It’s funny, Levi impressed me the most but I couldn’t put any of his matches above the ones I mentioned. I debated putting his final match vs. Kade over Chen/Hulk match.

I’ve found myself in training after CJI trying to replicate some of Levi’s incredible guard work and back takes. Levi has the best guard in all of BJJ, in my opinion.

CJI Event Positives

Everyone got paid

Craig Jones really did it. Put on a great show full of exciting matches, with all the top stars. Everyone got paid well. Two people left with a million dollars. All competitors got paid $10,001 USD.

This was the first event of its kind and we all are hoping it becomes an annual event.

Event production

I have watched a lot of BJJ events. Not many run this smoothly from a production standpoint. There’s often a lot of dead air time or technical difficulties. I can say watching CJI was a great experience, even better that it was (and still is) free on YouTube.

Growing the sport

CJI was quickly viewed by over 1 million people! That’s huge. A lot of events happen behind paywalls, so the viewing numbers are never known. Craig said this will give athletes power as it’s proof as to how many potential eyes are on the growing sport of BJJ.

Calling out ADCC

I will admit I am a big fan of ADCC. But it’s a good thing someone called out ADCC organizers for some of their less than ethical business decisions, including paying women less prize money.

CJI Event Negatives

Too many matches. Too long

Day one was over 9 hours long. I think event promoters often think that more matches means a better show, but that’s not always true.

I think of it like watching a movie. If I’m gonna go to the movies with you, and you tell me the movie we are going to see is 9 hours long, I am not gonna watch it. I don’t care how great of a movie it is.

Event promoters need to find a balance. we want a great BJJ show but we have busy lives. I think 2.5 hours-3 hours is perfect time length for a BJJ event/tournament.

Too many commentators

I think 2 commentators is better than 3. It becomes too many cooks in the kitchen. I personally really enjoyed BMac and Josh Palmer. I hate to put someone down, but I think Hywel Teague would be better as a sideline reporter. I felt like he is very knowledgeable about the sport but came off a little too aggressive as a commentator.

Not enough back stories

One thing I think would help get more casual fans into BJJ. What’s the story behind these competitors? Why should we care about them? Give us a quick video on their history or a few bullet point facts about each competitor.

Imagine trying to get your partner, who does not know anything about BJJ into watching a BJJ event. They would probably care more about the potential backstories of the athletes over the actual match.

Even asking the athletes what their plans would be with the million dollars if they won it, would give us some insight into their personality.

The Road to CJI videos were very entertaining. But you need to be a BJJ nerd to understand everything that is happening. From a casual fan perspective you would have no idea who any of these athletes in the tournament are.

Gabi vs. Craig. The talking on mic

Gabi and Craig certainly was something. One thing I didn’t care for in the actual match was Renato Laranja. He was in Craig Jones corner with a microphone doing running commentary during the match.

It was kind of funny. But the actual 3 commentators seemed confused of when they should talk as they had no idea what or when Renato was gonna talk. I would have preferred Renato say a few things post match or just not at all. He had his moment of glory on the road to CJI.

What did you think of CJI? Leave a comment and let me know.

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