Craig Jones, the jiu-jitsu coach of Alexander Volkanovski, has taken to Instagram to respond to a fan who claimed that Australian fighters can’t wrestle.
Volkanovski is set to face Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 this weekend for the lightweight title. The Australian is vying to become a two-division champion, whereas Makhachev is looking to make his first title defense.
Much of the fight build-up has centered around whether or not Alexander Volkanovski can deal with the Russian champion’s wrestling. Makhachev is an elite wrestler and grappler as well as a former sambo world champion.
However, Craig Jones is confident in the featherweight champ’s chances. Jones shared a video of himself demonstrating high-level wrestling with ‘The Great’ and replied to a fan in the comments who suggested fighters from Australia can’t wrestle.
The fan wrote:
“Australia have don’t wrestling”
Jones responded:
“I’ve been wrestling with my sexuality for 31 years.”
Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev will headline UFC 284 this weekend in Perth, Australia. In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett will go head-to-head for the interim featherweight title.
Alexander Volkanovski believes Conor McGregor will get a title shot if he beats Michael Chandler
Last week, Dana White dropped the bombshell that Conor McGregor would be making his long-awaited UFC return later this year. ‘The Notorious’ is set to coach against fellow lightweight star Michael Chandler on The Ultimate Fighter, with the pair expected to face each other sometime this year.
Speaking to the media about McGregor’s return, Volkanovski believes the Irishman can compete once again for UFC gold. ‘The Great’ stated that a victory over Chandler would almost guarantee ‘The Notorious’ a title shot and hoped he would be the one holding the 155lbs strap if that happened:
“It’s always good to have Conor coming back to the sport. He brings a lot of eyes here and that will be a fun fight as well. I think it’s clever for both of them… They’re both powerful dudes… It’s a winnable fight because they’re just going to go for it so it’s going to be entertaining, but that just puts Conor right back in the conversation for the belt.”
Volkanovski added:
“For people to say he wouldn’t deserve it and there’s no way they’re going to do that, you’re pretty crazy, right? It’s Conor McGregor, and if he takes out someone like Chandler, you know his name is going to be mentioned. You know people are going to be talking about him so it’s interesting. It’s good to look at because I plan on taking that lightweight belt.”
Catch Alexander Volkanovski’s comments here (4:38 mark):