"Pathetic” - Fans brutally turn on Craig Jones after training BJJ alongside Mark Zuckerberg

Craig Jones is one of the most popular Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes globally. The Australian's quirky sense of humor has endeared him to combat sports fans. However, Jones' recent training footage alongside Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has seen many fans slam the BJJ black belt.

It appears that Zuckerberg is not well liked among combat sports fans. The tech mogul has previously trained alongside former UFC champions Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya. But his recent training session with Jones appears to have been too much for fans to bear.

Following their BJJ sessions, Jones posted a picture on Instagram and wrote:

"Thanks @zuck for always having my back"

Check out Craig Jones' post below:

Some fans speculated that Zuckerberg may be the anonymous funder of the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), which took place in August 2024. The winners of the two weight categories received a mammoth $1 million in cash, but the tournament's funder is yet to be revealed.

While other fans expressed their frustration at the Jones-Zuckerberg partnership, with one fan writing this:

"Pathetic how BJJ stars bend the knee for a quick buck"

Another fan wrote:

"CJI 3, 4, 5, 6 confirmed"

One commented:

"First craig L"

See more fan reactions below:

Screenshot of fan reactions to Jones' training with Mark Zuckerberg (Image courtesy: @craigjonesbjj on Instagram)

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Gordon Ryan confirms he will not participate in Craig Jones Invitational 2

The second edition of the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) will take place in August 2025 following an immensely successful launch of the new grappling tournament. The attention garnered by the CJI has seen Jones maintain the whopping $1 million prize money.

However, the Australian changed the format of the 2025 edition of CJI. Instead of individual athletes competing for the prize money, it will be teams from around the world going head-to-head for the chance to win $1 million.

The first team confirmed for CJI 2 is none other than New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, headed by Jones' arch-rival, Gordon Ryan.

Following the announcement that New Wave Jiu-Jitsu would compete at CJI 2, Ryan came out to shut down speculation that he would participate, writing on Instagram:

"I was never invited to CJI 1, which made a little sense financially. Our team was invited to CJI 2, where I would be making less to win than I do to even show at other events. Moreover, if the prize was [$10 billion], on principle I'd rather take a shotgun blast to the face than compete. Good luck coming close to breaking even without me."

Check out Gordon Ryan's post about the Craig Jones Invitational below: