CJI vs ADCC – Thoughts from Matside in Las…

We bought our ADCC tickets early. We were at ADCC 2022, and it was phenomenal. It felt like a monumental occasion for the sport of jiujitsu thanks to the size of the arena and the huge audience. There was no way we would miss the bigger, better ADCC that was coming to us in 2024.

And then CJI came along.

If anything, it made the weekend all the more unmissable. We secured VIP tickets for CJI and attended them both. I put my thoughts below.

Overall, this weekend, jiujitsu won. Sure, there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes – some good, some not good, some downright diabolical – but overall, the sport of jiujitsu took a huge leap forwards thanks to these events. I think, overall, in terms of change, CJI was the main driver. The show received over 3 million views and counting, which instantly puts it as the most watched jiujitsu event of all time. There is a modern trend to tear down institutions, but most of the time, there are no viable alternatives offered in their place. CJI was different. It did have a clear goal, which was to harm ADCC – a venerable institution of jiujitsu – in some way. But, it offered a viable alternative – with excellent pay for the athletes, and a huge audience in front of which they could perform.

The VIP tickets we had for CJI allowed us to sit anywhere either side of the stage, and as we arrived early on the Friday, we took the front row. Now, we were somewhat delirious from travelling, shooting .50 calibre sniper rifles and machine guns, touring the UFC performance institute AND eating our bodyweight in omelettes / pancakes / crispy bacon that day, so pretty quickly, tiredness began to set in. Opening the show with the heavyweights was a bold move – the pace was definitely slow, but I don’t see any other way they could have done it. Besides, this article is not one offering advice or criticism – just some key observations from the weekend. The vibes at CJI were, for the most part, immaculate. It felt like a big party, a celebration. We saw a lot of familiar faces and felt that our presence there was no mistake – we knew the judges, the media team, the commentators, and of course, we have known Craig since he was a skinny purple belt buying Scramble rashguards. The production was impeccable. High quality lighting and sound, the pit looked amazing, the pacing was – for the most part – quick, although it had to be due to the sheer amount of matches they had to get through. Shoutout the presenter, Alexandra Wendling, who – as far as I know – did not have experience presenting this kind of show, and yet absolutely nailed it, acting as not only an insightful interviewer, but an effective anchor for the whole event. One thing I remember in particular was how exciting Pat Downey was. Non stop effective attacks. Funny, too. At one point he dumped Luke Rockold on his back and Rockhold came up clutching around the base of his spine. Downey made a face, and Luke muttered something like “my back…” to which Downey responded “Spinal?” echoing the hilarious Mike Tyson clip. We all giggled.

We threw the towel in past midnight as we were so tired, and left with a few matches still to go, but ready to be fresh for Saturday.

ADCC was held at the cavernous T-Mobile Arena. After the party-like atmosphere of CJI, ADCC definitely felt a little sterile, but it would be hard not to due to the sheer size of the arena. It was absolutely huge (Ben and I had watched UFC 200 there and even then it felt big). We had regular joe seats right at the back, the nosebleeds (probably not the only people with nosebleeds that weekend in Vegas wink wink), and ADCC looked like a tournament for ants. The jumbotron was great, though, and did its job, showing all three mats and their scores. Nice touch. Day one was fun, but to be honest, the whole weekend has blurred into one 72 hour jiujitsu smudge and I will struggle to recall individual matches. We left a little early so that we could get ready for CJI finals that evening.

The atmosphere on day two at CJI was different. It felt even more like a party, and we knew the schedule would be a lot tighter, and the running time a lot shorter. The VIP section was packed with people we know and like, which made it all the more enjoyable. The jiujitsu on display was electrifying. It was really exciting and the “intimate” atmosphere of the slightly smaller venue (but still an absolutely huge audience for jiujitsu) only added to that excitement. The pit was an excellent addition to the format, allowing athletes to continue fighting in situations when previously they may have been stopped and reset by the referee. One particular moment I remember, after the iconic Kade Ruotolo vs Andrew Tackett, I was heading up the stairs, and realised that the entire crowd was chanting in unison “One More Round! One More Round!” It honestly sent shivers down my spine, I couldn’t believe how into it we all were. It really felt like jiujitsu was having its Stephan Bonnar vs Forrest Griffin moment, the one that propelled the UFC to mainstream success. Check the video below, I skipped to the part where the crowd starts chanting:

When Craig was called up to fight Gabi, we realised he was sat front row sipping a drink. Couldn’t believe it. We found the match hilarious, and Renato Laranja 27 time world champion’s commentary, which was broadcast through the arena, was very amusing. I am not sure how it came across on the stream, but in person, we could not stop laughing. By the time the finals, Levi vs Kade, rolled around, we were pretty deep in party mode, but it felt like the whole venue was. I will definitely be rewatching the key matches to appreciate the jiujitsu more.

ADCC on Sunday was a different atmosphere again, but I think any event would have had trouble following in the footsteps of what happened on Saturday night. Two jiujitsu athletes walked away a million dollars richer, Craig proved that men are better than women at jiujitsu (I am joking), and it all went out for free on YouTube to hundreds of thousands of viewers. It was great to see Scramble athletes performing both at ADCC and CJI. While we did not produce any champions this weekend, we loved seeing them compete – and there were many important and meaningful victories (Mateusz over Garry, Declan Moody over Baby Shark, Kendall over Amy Campo, Taza with the quick sub over Davi Ramos, etc). Gordon’s superfight was interesting. There is no question he is the most successful jiujitsu athlete of the modern era, but I am not sure how well it translates to excitement for the viewer. His pressure cooker style requires time and patience to execute, and in terms of sheer excitement, it’s hard to compete with the Tacketts and the Ruotolos throwing the entire toolkit at their opponent in double-time.

There were so many things to take away from this weekend of jiujitsu. As people deeply embedded in the sport – both with Scramble and Polaris – there were a lot of lessons and valuables insights earned from the trip. Open scoring, rounds, a new arena (the pit) – so many things to talk about and digest. But for now, I am just going to go back and rewatch CJI day two…