What a bloody night at CJI 2. If you missed Day 2, you witnessed one of the most insane finishes in grappling history – and the best part? It’s still free on YouTube today only, so you can catch all the madness before it goes behind the paywall.
The $50,000 Subscriber Bonus That Broke the Internet
Craig Jones wasn’t messing around when he announced that massive subscriber bonus. The Australian showman knew exactly how to get people talking, and talk they did. The bonus structure rewarded fighters who could bring eyeballs to the stream, and with the kind of performances we saw, every penny was earned.
Watch the full event here before tuesday:
Craig Jones vs Chael Sonnen: A Masterclass in Buggy Choke Perfection
The main event was supposed to be entertainment, but it turned into a submission clinic. Chael Sonnen, stepping in on short notice like the absolute legend he is, found himself on the wrong end of not one, but TWO identical buggy chokes from Craig Jones.
The first round was over almost before it started. Sonnen got the takedown – classic wrestling – but Jones immediately wrapped up that buggy choke. The squeeze was picture perfect, and Sonnen went out cold. The crowd went mental, demanding more.
And Craig Jones? He delivered. Round two was basically a carbon copy – another takedown from Sonnen, another lightning-fast buggy choke from Jones, and another nap for “The Bad Guy.” Two submissions, same technique, both in under 30 seconds. It was like watching a grappling Groundhog Day, except way more entertaining.
Big John McCarthy was probably the busiest man in Vegas, checking on Sonnen twice in the span of a few minutes. The whole thing was peak CJI – serious grappling skills wrapped up in pure entertainment gold.
Women’s Finals: Helena Crevar’s Aoki Lock Magic
The women’s division delivered absolute fire with Helena Crevar taking on Sarah Galvão in what turned out to be a technical masterpiece. Crevar showed why she belongs at this level, securing the win with a slick Aoki lock that had the crowd on their feet.
Sarah Galvão brought her A-game, but Crevar’s submission game was just too sharp on the night. The Aoki lock finish was clean as a whistle – the kind of technique that makes you rewind the footage just to appreciate the setup.
The Million-Dollar Moment: 47-47 and Everything on the Line
Here’s where things got absolutely mental. After all the individual matches, all the drama, all the submissions – the team competition between B-Team and New Wave came down to a dead heat. 47-47. You couldn’t script it better if you tried.
Everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – came down to one match: Nicky Rod vs Luke Griffith. One million dollars hanging in the balance. The pressure was unreal.
Nicky Rod, representing B-Team, knew what was at stake. Luke Griffith from New Wave had the weight of Gordon Ryan’s legacy on his shoulders. When the dust settled, it was Nicky Rod who got the job done on points, securing that massive payday for B-Team.
The scenes afterward were pure chaos. B-Team had just pulled off one of the biggest upsets in grappling history, dethroning the mighty New Wave in the most dramatic fashion possible. Gordon Ryan’s retirement announcement suddenly looked a lot more final with his team coming up short in their biggest test.
The YouTube Window is Closing
If you haven’t watched it yet, today is your last chance to catch all this madness for free on YouTube. Tomorrow it disappears behind the paywall, and trust me, this is not the kind of event you want to watch through highlight clips and social media posts.
Craig Jones has created something special with CJI. The production value, the storytelling, the actual grappling – it’s all top tier. But more than that, he’s proven that grappling can be both technically brilliant and massively entertaining without compromising either element.
The fact that we got double buggy chokes, a women’s final that delivered, and a team competition that came down to the wire in a single night? That’s not luck – that’s what happens when you put the right people in the right environment and let them do what they do best.
Day 2 of CJI 2 will go down as one of those nights that remind you why you fell in love with this sport in the first place. Now go watch it before it’s too late.
