Craig Jones, a grappling legend, has full confidence that Alexander Volkanovski will get the job done over Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.
Jones is Volkanovski’s grappling coach and got the call to fly down to Australia after Volkanovski took the rematch on less than two weeks’ notice. The news caught many by surprise, but Jones wasn’t shocked as he says Volkanovski knows he can win this fight, even on 10 days’ notice.
“A lot of people look at the fight and say he is going to get paid. He’s going to make bank, he’s got a built-in excuse,” Jones said to Submission Radio. “But, at the end of the day, knowing Volkanovski he wouldn’t take the fight unless he thought he could win. So, for me, his confidence is so high, that he thinks he can take this guy out on 10, or 11 days’ notice. The first fight, in his opinion, went so well, 10, 11 days is all he needs for the rematch.”
Jones says UFC 294 will be the end of Sambo wrestling
Although Alexander Volkanovski and his team are confident, the Aussie is a sizeable underdog against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.
Part of the reason why Volkanovski is so confident is due to the fact he felt Islam Makhachev’s wrestling and strength in the first fight. Craig Jones, meanwhile, knows Volkanovski can handle Makhachev’s grappling and says when the Aussie wins, it will be the death of Sambo wrestling.
“It makes him a man that disproved Sambo. That’ll trump his legacy in the sport, because we’ve wasted another martial art. Most martial arts were killed in 1993, somehow Sambo has limped and lingered on to 2023. So, Volkanovski kills Sambo, and we get to stop hearing about this Russian dancer… When I first heard it I thought they were talking about the Brazilian dance of Samba. And honestly, that is a more frightening prospect, Islam dancing Brazilian Samba,” Jones said.
Although Jones thinks UFC 294 will be the end of Sambo wrestling, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them have a trilogy should Volkanovski win next Saturday.
