The stage was set. Craig Jones had finally lured Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson into the pit for what was billed as his last dance at CJI 2 (Craig Jones Invitational). But just days before the event, the matchup crumbled. Steveson was out, citing a toe injury. However, what came next surprised everyone.

After pulling out of the grappling super-fight, Steveson signed on for an MMA debut in LFA, an organization often seen as a UFC feeder league. Was this all a coincidence, or something more calculated? Well, Gordon Ryan has a theory!

In a recent post on Instagram, the grappling king and Jones’s long-time rival wasted no time turning the knife. He stated, “Gable pulling out of the main event of cgi 2 and then fighting less than 2 weeks later on UFC fight pass is such a baller move by UFC, who has been attacked non stop for unknown reasons by cj.”

He didn’t stop there. Ryan mocked Jones’ lack of foresight, claiming, “I bet cj never put a pull out clause in there for gable, which would penalize him for pulling out. I’m sure there wasn’t. Otherwise, Gable wouldn’t have pulled out. I’m sure Gable read thoroughly through the contract before signing thanks to the advocacy about this matter from cj.”

For Craig Jones, the timing couldn’t be worse. The CJI 2 spectacle was supposed to feature his farewell performance, a swan song against Steveson, before stepping away from competition and B-Team. Instead, his main event collapsed, leaving just the million-dollar team tournament to carry the card.

The Aussie tried to laugh it off by quoting wrestling legend Dan Gable in a post on social media with, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy… except a hangnail.” But his frustration seeped through in later posts. “Hope his toe miraculously heals,” he wrote after news broke that Gable Steveson would fight less than two weeks later in MMA.

And it was that timing that has raised eyebrows across the grappling world. Alex Wendling, a commentator for CJI, came out with a statement where he indicated, “Very interesting timing to get an MMA offer from recent ‘playful rival’ UFC’s feeder promotion.”

The theory isn’t far-fetched when you look at the ongoing tension. Jones has repeatedly accused UFC BJJ of ripping off his event format, from the pit design to the ruleset. He also claimed to have turned down exclusive UFC contracts, calling them “exploitative.”

However, there may be a ray of light on the horizon for CJI 2 as a UFC veteran has indicated that he might be stepping in to replace Steveson and settle an old score with Craig Jones!

Craig Jones gets a lifeline from Chael Sonnen as Gordon Ryan takes shots at the CJI 2 main event controversy

Chael Sonnen recently revealed on his ‘You’re Welcome with Chael Sonnen’ podcast that he’d spoken directly with Jones about the situation. At first, he thought Jones was simply seeking advice on how to handle a main event collapse.

But as Sonnen explained, there was more to it. “Craig says, ‘Hey, what would you do? I know you’ve been in this spot before, promoting shows, time’s running out,’” Sonnen recalled. Later, when Christian Pyles from FloWrestling asked him on-air if he’d take the match, Sonnen realized Jones’ earlier call had been a subtle challenge and stated, “So I said of course I’ll take on Craig.”

This isn’t just a random pairing. Sonnen and Jones already share a brief history. Back in 2017 at the ADCC tournament, the young Australian caught Sonnen in a heel hook to secure a first-round submission.

For Sonnen, the memory still lingers. He noted that at the time, he was fresh off winning the ADCC superfight championship against Leo Vieira, a two-time gold medalist, and entered the Absolute bracket with confidence. That confidence didn’t last long.

Sonnen described walking out to face a “21-year-old kid in long, colorful tights” only to be caught in submissions he didn’t recognize. “He puts me in a submission that I simply don’t know,” Sonnen admitted, recalling how Jones transitioned through multiple setups before finishing. He said he didn’t even tap, instead stopping the match verbally!

Despite the loss, Sonnen insisted he has always wondered how he’d fare in a rematch. “I’ve had fantasies if I could go back, I could do better, I could shut this down, I could isolate,” he reflected. That curiosity may soon become a reality because Sonnen then confirmed he’ll be attending another event on Saturday, but plans to fly straight to Las Vegas afterward to meet Jones inside the CJI pit.

And so, the twists around CJI 2 have turned what was meant to be Craig Jones’ farewell into a storyline packed with betrayal, conspiracy, and unexpected redemption arcs. Gordon Ryan sees it as proof of UFC’s dominance. Jones frames it as sabotage. And now Chael Sonnen could turn the chaos into a spectacle of his own!