August 2024 Jiu-Jitsu Highlights: The Biggest Weekend In Professional Grappling History

August was the biggest month of 2024 as far as professional Jiu-Jitsu competition goes, and it may well have been the biggest month in the history of the sport. Craig Jones had spent a few months building up to the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational and he was going directly up against the most established promotion in no gi grappling, the ADCC world championship. While CJI was taking place on Friday and Saturday, ADCC 2024 was taking place on Saturday and Sunday. That meant that grapplers around the world had hard choices to make when it came to where to compete, but fans had the opportunity to watch a weekend packed with the highest level of grappling imaginable. Naturally both events combined had a huge effect on the Jits Magazine BJJ Rankings, which REVGEAR is the proud sponsor of.

Storylines from the mats in August 2024

CJI and ADCC 2024 go head to head

The Craig Jones Invitational crowned two champions, Kade Ruotolo and Nicky Rodriguez, and both of them walked away with the first million-dollar prize in Jiu-Jitsu. Ruotolo had some incredibly tough matches, including one of the most entertaining we’ve ever seen against Andrew Tackett, while Rodriguez won all four of his matches by submission in a flawless performance. Ffion Davies and Craig Jones also won their respective superfights against Mackenzie Dern and Gabi Garcia too, but the biggest highlight was undoubtedly the under 80kg division; which was potentially the most stacked fans have ever seen.

CJI started off the weekend with a bang and it led directly into the first day of ADCC 2024, where over a hundred of the world’s best competitors stepped on the mats. There were some wild moments like Michael Pixley submitting Nicholas Meregali in the second round and Owen Jones making a run in the under 66kg division, but naturally most of the attention was on the champions. Kaynan Duarte won both his weight and the absolute division with an incredible 7 submissions in 8 matches, while Adele Fornarino became the first Australian ADCC champion and only the third female double champion by winning all 6 matches of her own.

Full results from the Craig Jones Invitational can be found here.

Full results from ADCC 2024 can be found here.

ONE Fight Night 24, ADXC 5, and BJJ Stars 13 all have their share of big moments

There were quite a few major events leading up to the weekend of CJI and ADCC 2024 as well and even though they might have been overshadowed, they had plenty of excitement of their own. Mayssa Bastos made headlines by defeating Danielle Kelly to become the ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion, becoming only the second woman to hold a grappling title at ONE Championship. That same night in another country, ADXC 5 was taking place. The main event was a rematch almost two decades in the making, and Urijah Faber was able to notch another win against his old rival Bibiano Fernandes.

Chad Mendes also got a win over Diego Brandao in another battle between MMA veterans, while Rayron Gracie got a big submission win over Marcos Carrozzino in the gi main event. The action didn’t stop there that weekend either, as the following night saw BJJ Stars 13: Vikings Edition take place in Sao Paulo. There was several of the biggest names in the sport competing throughout the card, most notably on the main card where Fellipe Andrew, Diogo Reis, and Mica Galvao all came away with solid wins before competing at either CJI or ADCC 2024.

Full results for ADXC 5 can be found here.

Full results for BJJ Stars 13 can be found here.

And off the mats…

Some legendary competitors are about to make their return after a few years away, with 13-time IBJJF World Champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida announcing his desire to make a grappling comeback first. Only a few weeks after he revealed that he was going to do so, he was joined by another veteran of the sport as Xande Ribeiro also announced his intention to return in 2025. Those two announcements gave fans something to look forward to in the coming months, while some competitors themselves also got great news. The AJP Tour announced that, for the first time ever, the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam tournament in Dallas, Texas would have Para Jiu-Jitsu divisions. This was a welcome move by the promotion as it has given a whole section of the Jiu-Jitsu community the opportunity to compete on one of the biggest stages in the sport.