Outside Source
Jones is considered one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners of recent times. He has humorously taken shots at combat sambo repeatedly, claiming to have found the answer to elite wrestlers like Makhachev and Nurmagomedov. Moreover, Jones has been an integral part of multiple Australian fighters’ camps leading up to fights against wrestlers.
However, he found himself on the losing side when Jack Della Maddalena put his welterweight title on the line against Makhachev at UFC 322 last November. Despite Jones’ assistance, Della Maddalena was dominated on the ground for five rounds by Makhachev, who then confronted the grappling coach about his jiu-jitsu superiority claims.
Craig Jones explains his exchange with Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov after UFC 322
While Jones didn’t say it to Makhachev’s face, he thought he had served his purpose since Della Maddalena didn’t suffer a submission loss. The Dagestani was then joined by his friend and mentor, Nurmagomedov, who started listing occasions where Makhachev triumphed over fighters who had trained with Jones. “The Eagle” noted that Della Maddalena, Dan Hooker and Alexander Volkanovski lost to Makhachev despite training with Jones.
“Islam was screaming at me. The fight was still going on,” Jones said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “He’s like, ‘Where is your jiu-jitsu now?’ I was thinking in my head, ‘You didn’t get a submission, bro. Mission accomplished on my behalf.’ Afterwards, Islam came up, and he was nice about it.”
Islam Makhachev had a Message for Craig Jones During UFC 322: ‘Where Is Your Jiu-Jitsu Now?’
Jones then clarified that he never helped Hooker, who was submitted by Makhachev. The light-hearted debate aside, the Australian revealed Volkanovski is setting it up for him to train with the Dagestani contingent someday.
“I think one day we’re gonna link up and train together,” he added. “Alex was trying to make that happen. Then Khabib came over. I feel like Islam has a better sense of humor than Khabib. I didn’t know how that was going to go. Khabib came over, and he was just counting names out. He was just like, ‘Volkanovski twice. Dan Hooker. Now, Jack. You need to say something good about Sambo.’ I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t coach Dan Hooker. That’s 3, my friend.’”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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