Craig Jones calls out Joe Rogan for hypocritical stance on Olympics vs. ADCC athlete pay

Craig Jones has called out Joe Rogan for his hypocritical stance on the Olympics compared to the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, which Rogan sponsors. The podcast host recently criticized the Olympics' unfair athlete pay.

Jones, a former 2x ADCC silver medalist, announced earlier this year he would not be competing at ADCC 2024. He cited a lack of financial benefit as his main reason, claiming that prize money for winning had been the same since 2017, at $10,000, despite the sport's immense growth.

ADCC 2024 will take place at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, the same venue used by the UFC for pay-per-view cards. According to ADCC organizer Mo Jassim, using the venue cost him over $2 million.

But Jones pointed out that such a large amount of money would be better off going to the athletes, and instead created his own no-gi grappling tournament, the Craig Jones Invitational.

The CJI will feature two weight divisions, with the winner of each receiving a whopping $1 million. Moreover, it will take place on the same weekend as ADCC 2024, which has seen many athletes move from ADCC to the CJI, hoping for a mammoth payday.

Jones appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience in May to promote the CJI. Rogan consistently criticized the fact that both events would happen on the same weekend.

Following Rogan's recent comments about the Olympics being a "giant scam," the Australian grappler couldn't help but point out the hypocrisy. He took to Instagram and said this:

"I'm absolutely appalled and outraged. Maybe someone should host an event on the same day?"

Check out Craig Jones' post below:

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Who is competing at The Craig Jones Invitational?

The Craig Jones Invitational has seen several ADCC 2022 champions, including Tye Ruotolo, leave in hopes of securing a $1 million payday.

UFC star Mackenzie Dern, who initially committed to ADCC 2024, having won a previous edition of the tournament, announced that she would instead be competing at the CJI.

The CJI has severely annoyed the organizers of ADCC, with Seth Daniels going so far as to send death threats to Jones.

The line-ups for the CJI have been confirmed. Big-name grapplers and MMA fighters, including Luke Rockhold, will take part. There will be two weight divisions: 80KG and +80KG.

See the -80KG division at the Craig Jones Invitational below:

+80KG division for the CJI