Thousands of jiu-jitsu fans tuning in to watch the world’s first inter-gender championship match between Gabi Garcia and Craig Jones were disappointed to discover the event had been postponed. After starting thirty minutes late, Garcia and Jones stunned fans when the two grapplers sat down to a press conference explaining that there will be a future date and yet-unannounced streaming platform instead of their anticipated match streamed on Alliance Eastvale’s Facebook page. The athletes explained that the change was to accommodate viewers in other parts of the world who don’t have access to Facebook.
A moderator first addressed the logistical problems with streaming this monumental event to a worldwide audience on such short notice. Then the athletes took the stage in what best can be described as an “interesting” press conference.
Craig Jones spoke first but was quickly cut off by a visibly upset Garcia to explain the circumstances leading up to this event. She wanted to assure her fans in the US and her native Brazil that she felt disrespected by Craig’s challenge and their upcoming match will be, contrary to some opinions, a real match.
Craig went on to channel his best Andy Kaufman impersonation and masterfully played off Gabi’s aggressive spite, egging her on in the process during the thirty-minute Q&A session.
The event ended in a bizarre arm-wrestling match, which Craig obviously conceded to complete his charade, but there is one thing we can all be sure of: Gabi is coming to fight all jokes aside when they eventually step on the mat soon, and Craig better hope he didn’t laugh himself into a mistake.
