Nicky Rod and Kade Ruotolo shine on Day 1 of inaugural CJI tournament – Craig Jones Invitational Highlights
Day 1 of the Craig Jones Invitational delivered some exciting finishes and a few shocking upsets as the festivities officially kicked off in Las Vegas.
Nicky Rod was undoubtedly the star of the show, scoring a pair of rear-naked chokes against Max Gimenis and Owen Livesey to punch his ticket to the semi-finals of the Over 80kg bracket. Rod will face Adam Bradley on Day 2 after Bradley earned split decisions against Kyle Boehm and Bellator prospect Pat Downey.
Joining Rod and Bradley on the other side of the semi-final bracket are Inacio Santos and Fellipe Andrew, who worked their way to the penultimate round with a series of hard-fought victories.
Perhaps the biggest shocker came in the Under 80kg quarterfinal when reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo suffered a decision loss against Levi Jones-Leary. Ruotolo got his tournament off to a great start, tapping out decorated wrestler Jason Nolf with a kneebar in the third round.
Facing Jones-Leary nearly five hours into the show, Ruotolo struggled with his guard while Jones-Leary fished for a heel hook throughout the match. In the end, Jones-Leary’s aggressiveness was enough to snatch a unanimous decision win, depriving us of the opportunity to see Tye Ruotolo square off with his twin brother and fellow ONE world champion, Kade Ruotolo.
ONE World Champion Kade Ruotolo fights his way to craig jones invitational under 80kg semifinal
Kade Ruotolo was able to get the job done on the other side of the bracket, locking in a nasty straight ankle lock with mere seconds left in the opening round against ADCC gold medalist Matheus Diniz.
Ruotolo went on to dominate Tommy Langaker in his quarterfinal match, earning a unanimous decision against the Norwegian BJJ star. In the last 14 months, Ruotolo has bagged three wins against Langaker with two of them coming under the ONE Championship banner.
Kade Ruotolo will meet Andrew Tackett in the semifinal contest after the young American bested Nicky Ryan and Eoghan O’Flanagan via decision.
Check out all the action from Day 1 of the CJI, including full results and the updated brackets for Day 2 below:
Over 80kg first round Results:
- Nicky Rod def. Max Gimenis via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:45 of Round 2.
- Owen Livesey def. Mahamed Aly via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Adam Bradley def. Kyle Boehm via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Pat Downey def. Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26)
- Lucas Kanard def. Victor Hugo via submission (heel hook) at 1:10 of Round 1
- Inacio Santos def. Pedro Alex via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Fellipe Andrew def. Daniel Kerkvliet via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joao Gabriel Rocha def. William Tackett via unanimous decision
Over 80kg quarterfinal Results:
- Nicky Rod def. Owen Livesey via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:41 of Round 1.
- Adam Bradley def. Pat Downey via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Inacio Santos def. Lucas Kanard via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Fellipe Andrew def. Joao Gabriel Rocha via unanimous decision
Under 80kg first round Results:
- Tye Ruotolo def. Jason Nolf via submission (kneebar) at 4:16 of Round 3
- Levi Jones-Leary def. Roberto Jimenez via submission (inside heel hook) at 1:53 of Round 1
- Lucas Barbosa def. Kenta Iwamoto via unanimous decision
- Jozef Chen def. Andy Varela via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27)
- Kade Ruotolo def. Matheus Diniz via submission (straight ankle lock) at 4:43 of Round 1
- Tommy Langaker def. Renato Canuto via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Eoghan O’Flanagan def. Magid Hage via submission (outside heel hook) at 1:41 of Round 2
- Andrew Tackett def. Nicky Ryan via unanimous decision (30-24, 30-24, 30-25)
Under 80kg quarterfinal Results:
- Levi Jones-Leary def. Tye Ruotolo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lucas Barbosa def. Jozef Chen via submission (knee crush) at 3:34 of Round 3
- Kade Ruotolo def. Tommy Langaker via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Andrew Tackett def. Eoghan O’Flanagan via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
