What We Learned From CJI

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CJI was the highest paying BJJ event in history, but it might also be the best. There were a lot of good matches and some upsets. The "ally/pit" proved to be the superior place to hold matches as there were about 2 resets in 34 matches, instead of the multiple resets every match that we get normally. This allowed for constant action and more takedowns than usual. I was concerned with the rounds format, but honestly it didn't hinder the matches or cause any real problems. It was fun all the way through and might have had the best match of all time. Of course 2 people also became millionaires. It seemed like a success to me, so hopefully we get another one next year. 


 Results



Craig Jones def Gabi Garcia via RNC


Ffion Davies def Mackenzie Dern via Americana


Nicholas Rodriguez def Felipe Andrew via RNC


Kade Ruotolo def Levi Jones-Leery via dec




 How People Won



 

Stats

These are the stats for the whole event, but you can find my Instagram at the bottom with stats for the individual divisions.

 

Luckily we had a good variety of submissions here. The RNC was number 1, lead by Nicky Rod, who hit 4 of them. We also got 3 inside heelhooks. Surprisingly there was only 1 armlock and that was the americana from the rear triangle by Ffion Davies. 


The single leg and the double leg both scored 14 finishes, but the double leg had a higher finishing percentage. However the highest percentage takedown was the bodylock(if you exclude the mat return and duck under for low attempts). One of the reason this was so high was due to the "ally" wall. Many people just got a bodylock and started running. It was an easy way to get a takedown, but IMO also really exciting as we saw more urgency with takedowns. I think the "ally" really added to the event and increased the number to takedowns. I'll try to compare this to other events in the future, but it did seem to make a difference just using the eye test. 

 

 


There are a bunch of sweeps tied at 3 a piece. The double leg, sub sweep, halfguard, matrix and roll over sweep. There were a wide variety of sweeps and I think that made things interesting to watch. It is always nice to see a variety of styles.
 

When it came to passes there was quite the variety as well. Scoop grip and half guard passing came out on top with 5 each and scoop grip passing was actually the highest percentage pass. Everyone had different approaches to their passing and I think people proved that many different approaches can be effective.
 

The back was the easiest position to submit from followed by the saddle and 50/50. It is interesting that we're seeing more people go to the mount, but still we aren't seeing finishes from the position.



Action


Here are the action stats for the over 80kgs division. For those that are wondering, I redid these a bit. These track the average amount of techniques and positions(achieved and failed) in a 5 min period. The more you do and the less time you spend on the mat the better.

The winner here was Nicky Rod, who averaged 9.51 actions in a 5 min period. People have accused Nicky of being boring before, but you can't put that on him here. He as head and shoulders ahead of everyone else here and it is even more impressive when you consider he had more matches, which could drag down his average. 


The watchability score is the same as the Action score, but it also takes into account hitting submissions and the ratio of successful to failed techniques. Here Nicky Rod came out on top again and there is an even bigger gap. His activity level and submissions helped make all of his matches good and worth watching. Lucas Kanard has a high rated as well, but this is almost completely due to his quick sub of Victor Hugo. 

 


Andrew Tackett came out on top here. He was a guard passing machine and kept up a high pace in all of his matches. In his first 2 matches he ran over his opponents and his match with Kade Ruotolo might be the greatest match of all time. Kade came in right behind Andrew and looked impressive as well. 


Andrew Tackett came in on top here as well followed by Eoghan "O'Flanagan and Kade Ruotolo. Andrew was pushing the pace the whole time, Eoghan hit a quick sub in his first match and had some good attempts against Tackett, While Kade was moving around and throwing the kitchen sink at people. It should be noted that the people who got subbed also got a bit of a boost as well in the watchability score. However I think this can serve as a rough guide of whose matches to watch if you haven't seen the whole event. As I said above, Kade Ruotolo vs Andrew Tackett might be one of the greatest matches of all time and you owe it to yourself to watch it. 




Finally you can see the action scores for the whole event here. Since I switched things up I can't compare it to past events, but I think a 9.96 action score is pretty good. That means almost 1 technique is attempted every 30 sec, which isn't bad. Although there were some slow matches I can't complain with these numbers or the performances we got. 


Mikey Award


This award goes to Lucas Kanard for his quick win over Victor Hugo. I don't think he gave Victor a chance to even try anything. Nice win for Lucas and he got the submission bonus too. I'm sure he's happy he switched to CJI. 
Overall

Was this the greatest BJJ event of all time? Maybe. It was really really good and for the most part delivered on its promises. There was a lot of action. There were submissions. It was fun and it was free. On the production side, everything was clear and easy to see, the sound was pretty good and most importantly it ran fairly smoothly. One thing I hate about shows with tons of matches, is long breaks. They said they were going to start at 7 and the stream opened right on the dot and we got into the first match within 15 min. That's what I like to see. I imagined there would be some sort of big production disaster, but everything was smooth, except one time they cut to Nicky Ryan staring at a wall in the back while a match was going. 

I'm praying that we get another one of these next year and I hope they do a women's division and a small man division. IMO the best events of all time are ADCC 2022, 2003 and WNO night of Champions. This event is definitely right up there with it. I believe both videos have hit a million views and will only be going up. It seems like the event was a success and I'm eagerly awaiting its return. 

Year to Date 



 

 

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 19, 2024 at 8:15 AM

    Agree, great event. The one production issue that was completely inexplicable and infuriating was not showing the competitors name next to the scores when they were revealed between rounds. There were so many times I was confused after a close round as to who won.

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