Gable Steveson vs. Craig Jones In CJI Super Fight: Everything To Know

Here's what to know about the Craig Jones vs Gable Steveson superfight at CJI 2.

Aug 22, 2025 by Joe Harrington

Gable Steveson vs. Craig Jones In CJI Super Fight: Everything To Know

The 2025 Craig Jones Invitational will feature a marquee super fight between event founder Craig Jones and Olympic wrestling champion Gable Steveson. The match will take place Aug. 30-31 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas during CJI 2, which will also host a team-based tournament and the first women’s $100,000 openweight bracket.

The bout will be contested under CJI rules in “the pit,” a slanted-walled competition area designed to keep action continuous.

Matches follow an MMA-inspired format, with a total fight time of three five-minute rounds and a submission ending the match at any time. Certain dangerous techniques — including strikes, spiking on the head or neck, and small joint manipulation — are prohibited.

The main event of the weekend will feature the former Olympic freestyle wrestling champion, not to mention former WWE superstar and NFL prospect Steveson, against one of the biggest names in the sport of BJJ, Jones. Here's what to know about the matchup.

2025 Craig Jones Invitational 2

Who Is Craig Jones?

An Australian black belt under Lachlan Giles, Jones is a multiple-time Polaris champion and two-time ADCC silver medalist. Known for his leg lock game and creative submissions, Jones has 63 career wins, 51 by submission. He is the co-founder of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu.

Who Is Gable Steveson?

Steveson is a 2021 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at 125 kilograms, a two-time NCAA champion, and a five-time All-American for the University of Minnesota. He holds a 103-3 NCAA record and is regarded as one of the best collegiate heavyweights in history.

After winning the Olympic gold medal, he signed with the WWE and performed as a professional wrestler for several years. In 2023, while still under contract at WWE, he won the USA National Championship in freestyle wrestling and won his match at Final X, but chose not to compete at the Wrestling World Championships.

Steveson then tried playing in the NFL in 2024 and was one of the last players cut from the Buffalo Bills.

He returned to college wrestling in 2024-2025 and became an All-American and a Big Ten champion again.

Why The Gable Steveson vs. Craig Jones Match Matters

The superfight will be a clash of styles — Jones’ elite submission grappling against Steveson’s world-class wrestling. It’s also Steveson’s highest-profile appearance in a submission-only format.

Craig Jones Invitational Schedule

The first day of the event is set for Saturday, Aug. 30 and concludes on Sunday, Aug. 31.

CJI 2 Day 1 Schedule

Doors open at 7 p.m. ET with the preshow starting at 8:30 p.m. and the first matches at 9 p.m.

CJI Day 2 Schedule

Doors open at 7 p.m. ET with the preshow starting at 8:30 p.m. and the first matches at 9 p.m.

How To Watch The Craig Jones Invitational 2025

The CJI 2 is streaming live on the B-Team Jiu Jitsu YouTube account for free. The embedded YouTube stream will be available to watch on the FloGrappling website.

What Are CJI Rules?

CJI rules are an attempt to make grappling as accessible for fans of MMA as possible, so the matches follow the same time and scoring format as bouts in the UFC or other organizations. Three rounds of five minutes each where a submission ends the match at any time. CJI matches also happen in the pit, a slanted walled surface that aims to keep action continuous. The pit walls can be used for any submission or technique that you can think up.

What Are Quintet Rules?

The matches at CJI had scoring but if they follow true Quintet rules for CJI 2, those scores won't be necessary. In Quintet rules, any two people from each team begin the match and compete against each other. If no one wins by submission, the match is declared a draw and both are eliminated. If someone does win by submission, they stay and take on the next member of the opposing team until they either get submitted or compete to a draw. It's possible one person can go through an entire team by themselves. If both teams end up with everyone eliminated, there are traditionally tie-breaking criteria around penalties and aggression to help determine a team winner.

It has been confirmed that CJI 2 tournament matches will be eight minutes long. It remains to be seen what, if any, other changes that CJI 2 makes to the Quintet system.

What Are The Teams For CJI 2?

Here are the team rosters for the Craig Jones Invitational.

10th Planet

-66kg: Geo Martinez
-77kg: Alan Sanchez
-88kg: PJ Barch
-99kg: Ryan Aitken
+99kg: Kyle Boehm

Coach: Eddie Bravo

New Wave Jiu-Jitsu

-66kg: Dorian Olivarez
-77kg: Mica Galvão
-88kg: Giancarlo Bodoni
-99kg: Luke Griffith
+99kg: Vagner Rocha

Coach: John Danaher

B-Team Jiu-Jitsu

-66kg: Ethan Crelinsten
-77kg: Jozef Chen
-88kg: Chris Wojcik
-99kg: Nick Rodriguez
+99kg: Victor Hugo

Coach: Nicky Ryan & Damien Anderson

Team Australia/Asia

-66kg: Fabricio Andrey
-77kg: Kenta Iwamoto
-88kg: Lucas Kanard
-99kg: Declan Moody
+99kg: Belal Etiabari

Coach: Lachlan Giles

Team Americas

-66kg: Gavin Corbe
-77kg: Deandre Corbe
-88kg: Elijah Dorsey
-99kg: Taylor Pearman
+99kg: Pat Downey

Coach: Greg Souders

Team Europe

-66kg: Owen Jones
-77kg: Pawel Jaworski
-88kg: Paul Ardilla
-99kg: Charles Negromonte
+99kg: Marcin Maciulewicz

Coach: Faris Benlamkadem

Team Atos

-66kg: Diego Pato
-77kg: Ronaldo Junior
-88kg: Lucas Barbosa
-99kg: Kaynan Duarte
+99kg: Felipe Pena

Coach: Andre Galvão

Pedigo Submission Fighting

-66kg: Max Hanson
-77kg: Dante Leon
-88kg: Jacob Couch
-99kg: Michael Pixley
+99kg: Brandon Reed

Coach: Heath Pedigo

Women's $100k Bracket

CJI will hold its first women's bracket for $100,000, featuring four of the best in the world competing in an open weight bracket. They will be:

Adele Fornarino
Helena Crevar
Ana Carolina Vieira
Sarah Galvão

Top Ranked Grapplers At CJI 2

Based on the most recent FloGrappling World Rankings from Aug. 4, these are the top grapplers that will be competing at CJI. Each is listed with their most recent weight class ranking, except Mica Galvao, who is ranked No. 2 in Flo’s pound-for-pound ranking. Here is the list of top-ranked competitors at CJI.

No. 2 Mica Galvao - Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu - 77KG
No. 1 Diego Pato - Team Atos - 66 KG
No. 2 Fabricio Andrey - Team Australia/Asia - 66 KG
No. 3 Dante Leon - Pedigo Submission Fighting - 77 KG
No. 4 Deandre Corbe - Team Americas - 77 KG
No. 9 Ethan Crelinsten - Team Americas - 66 KG
No. 10 Max Hanson - Pedigo Submission Fighting - 66 KG
No. 13 Owen Jones - Team Europe - 66 KG
No. 6 PJ Barch - 10th Planet - 88 KG
No. 9 Jozef Chen - B-Team Jiu Jitsu - 77 KG
No. 12 Elijah Dorsey - Team Americas - 88 KG
No. 3 Ronaldo Junior - Team Atos - 77 KG
No. 5 Chris Wojcik - B-Team Jiu Jitsu - 88 KG
No. 6 Jacob Couch - Pedigo Submission Fighting - 88 KG
No. 8 Charles Negromonte - Team Europe - 99KG
No. 10 Ryan Aitken - 10th Planet - 99KG
No. 14 Paul Ardilla - Team Europe - 88 KG
No. 15 Taylor Pearman - Team Americas - 99 KG

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