Day 1 of the Craig Jones Invitational delivered some exciting finishes and a few shocking upsets as the festivities officially kicked off in Las Vegas.
Nicky Rod was undoubtedly the star of the show, scoring a pair of rear-naked chokes against Max Gimenis and Owen Livesey to punch his ticket to the semi-finals of the Over 80kg bracket. Rod will face Adam Bradley on Day 2 after Bradley earned split decisions against Kyle Boehm and Bellator prospect Pat Downey.
Joining Rod and Bradley on the other side of the semi-final bracket are Inacio Santos and Fellipe Andrew, who worked their way to the penultimate round with a series of hard-fought victories.