It’s official! Chael Sonnen will face off with Craig Jones in the main event of this weekend’s big CJI 2 Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament.
Jones was originally set to face Olympic wrestling gold medalist, Gable Steveson, but Steveson pulled out with a case of trench toe. Now, it’s “The American Gangster” who will be showing up to fill-in atop the card.
Sonnen announced this news on his YouTube channel days ago, but we now have confirmation from broadcast partner FloGrappling that a contract has been
signed and he is confirmed for the event. This is a chance for Sonnen to avenge a 2017 loss to Jones during an ADCC Openweight tournament.
Jones manhandled Sonnen through that match before catching him in a heel hook (watch it here).
It’ll be a busy weekend for the 48-year-old Sonnen — he’s set to do commentary for the debut Real American Wrestling event in Cleveland on Saturday. On Sunday, he’ll fly to Las Vegas and compete in the main event against Jones that night.
The second Craig Jones Invitational also features a $1 million BJJ tournament featuring eight teams and a $100,000 women’s tournament.
It’s a turbulent time in the BJJ and grappling scene. UFC BJJ is making waves by signing top names to exclusive deals, and Jones has made it clear that he opposes the UFC-ification of the sport. He’s noted that the vibes have been off since he turned down a contract with the promotion, and now there’s a lot of speculation that UFC may have had a hand in Steveson’s removal from CJI2 (and addition to a LFA MMA event being aired on UFC Fight Pass).
CJI 2 goes down this weekend (Aug. 30-31, 2025) from inside Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fans can watch the event online for free via FloGrappling’s YouTube channel and get live results right here.
