Craig Jones recently announced the preliminary entries for his second Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), which include some of his biggest rivals from New Wave. Jones even posted a photo with John Danaher and claimed he was “systematically rebuilding bridges” after the drama that split up Danaher’s “Death Squad” several years back.
Don’t expect Gordon Ryan to be a part of that movement.
“Just so everyone can stop speculating, and so Z Team can stop using my name (the only name) to promote their sh*tty event where winning athletes are taking a roughly 80-percent pay cut from the first event, let’s set the record straight: I was never invited to CJI 1, which made a little sense financially.”
CJI 1 ran head-to-head with Ryan and Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) last summer.
“Our team was invited to CJI 2, where I would be making less to win than I do to even show at other events,” Ryan continued. “Moreover, if the prize was $10 billion, on principle I’d rather take a shotgun blast to the face than compete. Good luck coming close to breaking even without me.”
Hopefully that shotgun blast doesn’t include salt and pitchforks.
New Wave is expected to enter a team at CJI 2 and some of the rumored participants include Giancarlo Bodoni, Luke Griffith, Garry Tonon, Dan Manasoiu, and Dorian Olivarez; however, nothing has been confirmed at this time. As for Ryan, his return to the mats has not been announced as “King” still deals with lingering health issues.
CJI 2 is scheduled for this August in Las Vegas.
