Craig Jones International has officially announced CJI 3, headlined by Jones vs. Dillon Danis in what the promotion is billing as a clash between “the greatest grapplers in the world.”
The word “greatest” is doing a tremendous amount of heavy lifting in that sentence.
Danis’s last competitive grappling match took place approximately seven years ago, in 2019, when he submitted Max Humphrey at a Bellator event. Since then, his competitive resume includes: posting on Twitter, getting kicked out of Logan Paul’s wedding, losing an MMA fight to Paul, and being in the general vicinity of Conor McGregor.
“When we say ‘greatest grapplers in the world,’ we mean it in the broadest possible sense of the word ‘grappler,’” a CJI spokesperson clarified when pressed. “Dillon has grappled with fame. He’s grappled with relevance. He’s grappled with the concept of showing up to things he’s signed up for.”
The announcement has raised the familiar question of whether Danis will actually compete, given his well-documented history of withdrawals and no-shows. As of press time, Danis is simultaneously booked for CJI 3, RAF 07 against Colby Covington, and a match against Arman Tsarukyan — a scheduling conflict that would require him to be in three places at once, which would be the most impressive athletic feat of his career.
Craig Jones, for his part, has said he doesn’t care whether Danis shows up. “I get paid either way,” Jones said. “And honestly, the less grappling Dillon does, the more entertaining the whole thing becomes.”
No date or location has been announced. Tickets are presumably non-refundable.