Faucet Most cancers Out founder Jon Thomas spoke to Grappling Insider in regards to the affect the inaugural CJI had on the group.
By all accounts, the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) was a convincing success. From huge viewership numbers to electrifying and unforgettable matches, to the overwhelmingly constructive response from the BJJ group, the occasion seems to be to have modified the panorama {of professional} grappling for the higher.
Maybe misplaced within the shuffle of Kade Ruotolo and Nick Rodriguez every successful $1 million prizes at CJI is the truth that the occasion exists to provide cash to charity through the Honest Struggle Basis. CJI’s premier charity associate was Faucet Most cancers Out – a non-profit group that has raised tens of millions for most cancers analysis largely through philanthropic BJJ tournaments.
For Faucet Most cancers Out, CJI created a large affect, each by way of {dollars} raised and total visibility for the group.
“Once I heard about CJI, I instantly knew it was going to be large,” Faucet Most cancers Out Founder and Government Director Jon Thomas informed Grappling Insider. “It was attempting to be disruptive in so some ways, together with massively elevated fighter pay, and I instantly thought that having a charity aspect would solely add to the affect CJI might create.”
Thomas stated that when Craig Jones appeared on the Joe Rogan Expertise and formally confirmed a charity aspect to the occasion, his crew went to work attempting to contact Jones. Finally, it was Kasai CEO Wealthy Byrne who reached out to Jones to make the introduction and promised to match dollar-for-dollar any donation made to Faucet Most cancers Out.
From Thomas’s first name with CJI co-founder Seth Belisle, he knew the partnership between the 2 organizations can be a fruitful one.
“[Seth] shared his private story of how most cancers touched our lives, and we mentioned how a partnership would possibly work,” stated Thomas. “Whereas clearly, CJI can be supporting TCO via a beneficiant present, we needed to help CJI as properly by creating content material across the fighters to assist share their views on CJI and the way most cancers has touched their lives. That’s how we related with Joao Gabriel Rocha who’s a most cancers survivor. His story was shared on the CJI broadcast proper earlier than his first match.”
Like every other BJJ fan, Thomas felt like CJI was one thing particular, but it surely wasn’t till he was sitting Alley-side for the occasion that he realized it was a landmark second within the sport {of professional} grappling – and the Faucet Most cancers Out brand and branding have been seen all over the place.
“I really didn’t understand the dimensions and attain of the occasion till I used to be there on the ground of the Thomas and Mack area, subsequent to the famed ‘Alley.’ The manufacturing worth was so excessive, like nothing I’d ever skilled in BJJ. Then when you felt the power within the crowd, particularly throughout the semi-finals and finals, we knew we have been a part of a historic occasion in our sport.”
Certainly, because the matches unfolded and drama reached a crescendo on day two of CJI, Thomas knew he was witnessing one thing totally distinctive on the planet of BJJ.
As a fan, he was blown away.
“The power within the crowd was palpable and solely elevated after each match,” he recalled. “And it wasn’t only one second. The Tackett vs. Ruotolo match – the best I’ve ever seen – Ffion vs. Mackenzie, Nicky Rod’s domination, and Gabi Garcia’s emotional post-superfight speech have been all moments that actually gave me chills. The group was deafening on many events.”
In fact, CJI was a large occasion with tens of millions of viewers, so Faucet Most cancers Out would naturally profit from the increase in visibility.
However Thomas stated that the connection between Faucet Most cancers Out and CJI runs a bit deeper, every utilizing BJJ to advertise constructive change.
“The recognition and noteworthiness of the occasion was clearly a giant draw, however we actually needed to be a part of an occasion that was altering the game for good. Faucet Most cancers Out exists to assist change the narrative of BJJ – to point out the world that this group of individuals aren’t just a few underground struggle membership. We’re a group of martial artists from all walks of life who’re prepared to struggle for these within the struggle of their lives. So to see Craig and Seth discovering a technique to change the lives of the rivals on the cardboard and put the world on discover that BJJ rivals needs to be pretty valued, that’s a noble trigger that we needed to be part of. We needed this to be the Avengers of BJJ occasions the place all of the organizations doing good issues in BJJ come collectively in a single place!”
Thomas has been working to develop Faucet Most cancers Out for almost 15 years, and CJI felt like a end result of these years of exhausting work.
For him, seeing his brainchild so prominently featured at what was undoubtedly essentially the most watched BJJ occasion of all time was “surreal.”
“Surreal. I stored saying that phrase. As a result of I keep in mind when it was simply an concept in my head,” he defined. “Earlier than any of our tournaments. Earlier than we had a brand. Earlier than it even had a reputation! I simply needed to mix my hatred for most cancers with my ardour for jiu-jitsu, and after just a few begins and stops, Faucet Most cancers Out and the TCO BJJ Open collection was born. I used to be receiving texts from coaching companions I haven’t seen in years saying how comfortable they have been to see TCO on such a giant stage.”
The impact of CJI on Faucet Most cancers Out was felt instantly. Even within the run-up to the occasion, TCO noticed an enormous inflow of Instagram followers, in addition to a large increase in worldwide merchandise gross sales, receiving extra worldwide orders throughout CJI weekend than the group had made in years.
Importantly, the affect of CJI on Faucet Most cancers Out runs deeper than an uptick in t-shirt gross sales – it instantly furthers the group’s struggle in opposition to most cancers and ensures that the struggle will proceed for years to return.
“Any such help is important for our capability to construct on our capability and implement packages that assist us attain grapplers close to and much,” Thomas stated. “Even after greater than a decade of labor, we’re nonetheless only a crew of a few half-dozen full- and part-time staff. Whereas we’ve achieved lots, I really feel our potential is limitless and CJI’s help helps us take a monumental step in direction of unlocking it.”
Given the plain success of CJI and the constructive reception from the overwhelming majority of the BJJ group, it’s no shock that Thomas hopes for a continued relationship between CJI and TCO.
He stated that his group was by no means handled as an afterthought by the CJI crew. Fairly the other, Thomas felt like an “equal associate” to CJI.
“We had a beautiful time working with Craig, Seth, Anthony and your entire CJI crew. Their work ethic was spectacular and so they actually handled us as an equal associate in CJI’s mission to affect lives in quite a lot of methods. We’d clearly like to proceed the partnership to CJI 2 and past, and we’re standing by to help in any and all methods doable. I believe the connection we’ve already constructed during the last 3 months places us in an awesome place to right away begin supporting CJI 2.”
In the long run, CJI’s affect on Faucet Most cancers Out can’t be overstated.
After years of internet hosting philanthropic tournaments, promoting merchandise, internet hosting fundraising occasions, and accumulating donations within the struggle in opposition to most cancers, Thomas looks like CJI was a breakthrough second for TCO.
“We now have spent over a decade attempting to carve out our place within the BJJ world, and it’s been an uphill battle to say the least. No group has ever executed as a lot to shine a highlight on Faucet Most cancers Out as CJI did.”
