WATCH: Gabi Garcia Gets Kissed by Craig Jones in Viral Video During Crazy Weigh in Face-off Ahead of BJJ Super-Fight

Gabi Garcia accuses Craig Jones of crossing the line following a pre-fight kiss incident, escalating tensions and controversy in the MMA community.

By Debmallya Chakraborty

Published on Aug 16, 2024 | 12:10 PM IST | 288.3K

Gabi Garcia, and Craig Jones

Craig Jones just shocked the fighting world ahead of his fight with Gabi Garcia. The duo was scheduled to face off in an intergender grappling bout when Jones decided to get too friendly with Garcia. The BJJ star and Garcia were having their mandatory pre-fight face-off when things took a sudden turn. In a viral video, Jones was seen grabbing Garcia’s face and proceeding to kiss the athlete. Such an unprecedented move caught Garcia by surprise.

Immediately, she thwarted Jones back and seemed to be enraged by the act. Garcia accused Jones of ‘crossing the line’ and called the match instantly. While the camera crews were trying to capture Garcia's reaction, she slapped away the camera lens in disgust. However, as for Craig Jones, whatever he did was apparently in good humor.

Reacting to the chaos that ensued, Craig Jones later posted a video of the incident. The jiu-jitsu artist captioned the post by saying, “Fights cancelled. I guess Brazilians can’t take a joke.” Although there is no confirmed news about the fight getting canceled, the above statement from Jones might be another of his methods of trying to troll Gabi Garcia.

Meanwhile, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the fastest-growing sports in the fighting realm. Trying to add momentum to the rising popularity of the discipline, the Craig Jones Invitational has emerged as one of the frontrunners. Hailing from Australia, Jones holds a black belt in BJJ and is also a master grappler. Jones trains at B-Team Jiu Jitsu in Austin and is also a co-founder of the facility.

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Jones, who had won a couple of silver medals in ADCC, wanted to start a competition to aid to the better payment of the fighters. Organized by the Fair Fight Foundation, the Craig Jones Invitational garnered mass attention via a podcast episode of Joe Rogan. Coming into discussion of his event, Craig Jones surprised everyone by bringing $1 million cash in a bag, which was the prize money for the fighters.

The main event of the match was supposed to be a faceoff with Jones and Garcia. Reflecting on Jones’ idea of an inter gender match, Gabi Garcia earlier told MMA Fighting, “He's revolutionizing the game with this idea... And for me, it’s good marketing. It’s more than fighting a man. The American audience has never really liked me, you know? I’ve always dealt with hate. And for the first time in my career, I feel 99 percent of the people are on my side.”

Unfortunately, that sense of friendliness seemed to have snapped after Jones’ latest gesture. With the future of the fight hanging in doldrums, it remains to be seen what transpires in the future.

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