“For the right price I’ll do anything. Absolutely anything. I had a blood pressure reading last week that was through the roof. You never know when this f—king show is gonna end. Again, if the money is good, for sure I’ll take that [Gordon Ryan] match.” —Craig Jones
There’s a rumor floating around that grappling sensation Craig Jones is retiring from competition.
“I’m hearing Craig might not even compete again,” Mason Fowler said after the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 last weekend in Las Vegas. “I don’t know how much Craig wants to compete. If [UFC] wants the match with Nicky Rod, even though he’s much bigger than me, then I would be okay with doing that next.”
Jones is not ruling out a return “for the right price.”
The 32 year-old Aussie was also in action last weekend in “Sin City” where he submitted Brazilian bruiser Rafael Lovato Jr. via inside heel hook. After the match, Jones elaborated on his decision to skip Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) 2024, which takes place later this year on the UFC Fight Pass digital network.
“I don’t think so,” Jones said about competing at ADCC 2024. “UFC Fight Pass pays very, very well; obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. ADCC is four matches for the chance of winning $10,000. I’ve gone through a list of things … I could sell my underwear and make more money than that. I’m selling dick pills on Instagram, I make more money than that. They make a lot of money from ticket sales, because they post about how many tickets they sell. They’re gonna sell 18,000 tickets, they have streaming right deals, it’s like … can I have a little bit of money? I’ll blow $10k at the afterparty if I win that thing.”
Thank Gordon Ryan for the millions of dollars generated in ADCC 2024 ticket sales.
The only matchup that interests most jiu-jitsu fans at this point is Jones vs. Ryan, but it doesn’t appear the no-gi “King” will be healthy enough to compete outside of this prior commitment. Until then, expect to see Jones on the grappling mats less frequently.
Or not at all.