Gable Steveson pulling out of his match with Craig Jones in the last minute has raised some suspicions, even from actual CJI 2 staff. Steveson supposedly dropped out of CJI 2 due to an injury, but has recently been booked to compete on a short notice MMA debut on UFC Fight Pass just 12 days after.
Gordon Ryan, who has trained with Steveson numerous times in the past, has since commented on the matter and seemingly added more weight to the conspiracy theory.
Gordon Ryan: ‘Baller move by UFC’ to retaliate for Craig Jones’ comments
Craig Jones has repeatedly criticized the
UFC and their “exploitative” BJJ contracts in recent months, and Gordon Ryan called this CJI 2 pull out a “baller move by the UFC” to retaliate.
“Gable pulling out of the main event of CJI 2 and then fighting less than 2 weeks later on UFC Fight Pass is such a baller move by UFC, who has been attacked non stop of unknown reasons by (Craig Jones),” Gordon Ryan wrote on Instagram.
“I bet (Craig Jones) never put a pull out clause in there for Gable, which would penalize him for pulling out. I’m sure there wasn’t,” he continued. Otherwise, Gable wouldn’t have pulled out. I’m sure gable read thoroughly through the contract before signing thanks to the advocacy about this matter from (Craig Jones).”
Ryan, who has very personal issues with Jones, continued to take shots at his former teammate.
“Now (Craig Jones) can’t fight any real (jiu-jitsu) guy (because) he will surely lose (like always), and likely won’t have time to find another joke match in time. My man can’t win at anything,” Ryan wrote. “At least I’m still untouchable.”
Although he has yet to make an official announcement, the “untouchable” all-time great grappler has reportedly retired due to numerous health issues.
Craig Jones responds to Gordon Ryan, Gable Steveson’s alleged breach of contract
Craig Jones has since responded to Gordon Ryan’s comments about Gable Steveson, and the UFC’s alleged involvement in this CJI 2 controversy.
“If you plan on agreeing to breach a contract at someone else’s request, definitely don’t have your friend make a public post admitting to that and definitely don’t like it yourself,” Jones responded.
The CJI 2 promoter also included a screenshot showing Gable Steveson “liking” Ryan’s original post.
Longtime UFC star Chael Sonnen has since claimed he’d step in for a rematch and save the main event, but there’s still no official word on a potential replacement. That bout was originally planned to be Craig Jones’ retirement match, and any replacement will be on extremely short notice.
CJI 2 will already be happening this weekend, on August 30-31, 2025. While Jones vs. Steveson held the main event spot, the event’s main draw is the stacked $1,000,000 team tournament.
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