Craig Jones and Gabi Garcia appear to be set to do battle tomorrow night in Las Vegas after their ‘superfight’ was initially canceled.
The massive intergender Jiu-Jitsu bout pits Jones, who stands at 6-foot and weighs in the region of 200lb, against 6’2 and 210lb+ Garcia. Yesterday, they went face-to-face for the final time, with the Australian planting a kiss on his rival.
This led to a massive outburst from Garcia, who later declared that the fight was off. But it now appears that they have come to some sort of terms as the bout has been saved, with Jones saying on social media that they are back.
Craig Jones declares Gabi Garcia fight is ‘back on’
After the controversy of the face-off, it seemed that Gabi Garcia had pulled out of the contest, declaring that Craig Jones had ‘crossed the line’ with his latest stunt. The build-up has been overtly crass in its presentation, but the Brazilian felt the final prank from her rival was too much.
She posted a series of Instagram stories, during which she said among other things: “I’m more mad because he hurt my head than that he tried to kiss me. My head still hurts but look, it’s martial arts, right? Don’t blame the clown.
“Instead ask yourself ‘why do I keep going to the circus’? I’m the clown or he’s the clown, but you’re going to the circus, right? You’re there for a laugh… If I didn’t want nobody judging me or talking s*** about me, or laughing about me, I probably would have stopped a long time ago, like 18 years ago.”
However, she has since re-shared a number of posts where it is said that the fight is back on. She even accepted a collaborator tag on Jones’ main photo of the kissing incident, with the Australian writing as a caption “The fight is back on”.
Craig Jones and Gabi Garcia share years-long rivalry
The feud between Craig Jones and Gabi Garcia has been going on in tongue-in-cheek fashion for years. They often go at each other’s throats, but have trained together in the past with the Brazilian even calling Jones “one of the most genuine people I know”.
In a recent interview with MMAFighting, it was revealed that after years of offers for the prospective ‘Battle of the Sexes’, Garcia finally accepted. This was contingent on a promise from Jones that he would make a donation to Rio Grande do Sul, her home state that has been decimated by floods.
“The truth is, I don’t think I’ll submit him because he’s really good, but don’t expect me to go easy on him,” Garcia told MMAFighting this week. “It’s been a long time… He’s p***ing me off for so long I want to smash him.
“He calls me all the time, he posts about me all the time. Give me a break, Craig! If I get to a good position, I’ll control the match instead of exposing myself [to a submission] for nothing, of course.”
Intergender ‘superfight’ headlines exciting night on BJJ action in Las Vegas
The massive showdown will run for 15 minutes, with the pair competing over three rounds of five minutes. Garcia had campaigned to have it as one continuous round, but they have agreed to terms she believes to be more favourable to Jones.
Las Vegas’ Thomas and Mack center will play host to the event, which takes place the same weekend as the famed ADCC grappling tournament. Jones will be paying each fighter $10,001 for their participation as a direct nod to ADCC’s grand prize that is available for just one competitor.
The ultimate prize for winning the Crag Jones Invitational will be a $1million payday, with two tournaments taking place over the next two days. Their brackets are over and under 80kg, and feature the likes of Nicky Rod and Luke Rockhold.
Jones and Garcia is then one of the two headline ‘superfights’. It takes center stage alongside UFC star Mackenzie Dern’s face off with Ffion Davies in a battle of former ADCC winners.
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