260-pound “baddest dude in college wrestling”, according to Daniel Cormier, joins The Craig Jones Invitational as the final heavyweight pick

The Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) will now feature the best collegiate wrestler in America, Daniel Greg Kerkvliet. The winner of the 2024 NCAA Div. I Heavyweight division, Greg Kerkvliet was dubbed by former UFC champion Daniel Cormier as "the baddest dude in college wrestling right now."

He should provide a unique dynamic to the CJI, which until this point has been filled with mainly Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes. The college athlete will enter the +80 kilogram division alongside a stacked list of talents, including Nicky Rodriguez and Luke Rockhold.

The 16-man division will go head-to-head for a whopping $1 million first prize.

The 2024 NCAA Div. I champion took to Instagram to confirm his place at the CJI, and wrote this:

"Blessed to be 1 of the 16 competing in the Craig Jones Invitational. Time to take the leotard and shoes off."

See Daniel Greg Kerkvliet's post below:

Nicky Rodriguez won a silver medal at 2019 Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, as a blue belt, using a wrestling-heavy gameplan. It will be fascinating to see how more traditional BJJ athletes contend with the relentless wrestling of Greg Kerkvliet.

The Penn State University student will be joined by teammate Jason Nolf, who is a 3x NCAA Div. I champion. Nolf will compete in the -80 kilogram division, against a plethora of BJJ world champions.

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Mackenzie Dern chooses Craig Jones Invitational over ADCC 2024 in major turn of events

Mackenzie Dern shared her eagerness to compete at ADCC 2024, a tournament she has previously won, before her clash with Amanda Lemos at UFC 298 in February.

ADCC 2024 will happen on Aug. 17-18, and the tournament's organizers confirmed Dern's official participation via Instagram in March.

However, in a surprising turn of events, the Brazilian will no longer compete at ADCC 2024, and instead will compete at the Craig Jones Invitational where she will face Ffion Davies.

Jones, a former 2x ADCC silver medalist, opted to create his own tournament instead of participating at ADCC this year. He stated that a lack of financial benefit for competing at the most prestigious BJJ tournament in the world was his main motivating factor for creating the CJI.

The Australian previously stated that the prize money for winning ADCC had been the same since 2015 - $10,000 - compared to the $1 million prize for winning the CJI.

After confirming Dern's participation at the CJI, he took to Instagram and wrote this:

"Historic moment for jiu-jitsu."

See Craig Jones' post below: