Alexander Volkanovski's choke defense against Brian Ortega is now used by Conor McGregor's coach
Alexander Volkanovski's legendary escape from Brian Ortega's lethal guillotine choke during their fight at UFC 266 epitomized the grit of the Australian.
It has now been revealed that the defensive techniques displayed by 'The Great' to escape the choke have been employed by John Kavanagh, the longtime coach of Conor McGregor.
Kavanagh is the head coach of SBG Ireland, where McGregor began training in 2008, and is also a fourth-degree black belt in BJJ.
Alexander Volkanovski appeared on Straight Talk with Mark Bouris following his narrow defeat to Islam Makhachev at UFC 284. Towards the end of the podcast, Bouris informed 'The Great' that John Kavanagh had begun using his iconic choke defense.
"I think I told you at the time, but John Kavanagh contacted me and said, 'Ask Volk if he trained to push on the hips.' Kavanagh now uses that as part of his defense for [the guillotine] choke."
Alexander Volkanovski replied with the following:
"I don't think I've actually been taught that [defense]... [But] teach me how to do a submission, [and] I'll teach you how to get out of it."
Watch the video below from 47:00:
Ortega is often regarded as having arguably the best jiu-jitsu in MMA, and is currently a first-degree black belt in BJJ under the legendary Rener Gracie.
Alexander Volkanovski's escape from the guillotine choke of Brian Ortega left fans dismayed. Joe Rogan, an avid MMA fan, recapped how incredible the escape was during a podcast episode with comedian Bert Kreischer.
Rogan said this:
"Ortega's got [Volkanovski's] legs crossed. So that kind of guillotine, with a guy like [Ortega] is DEATH! IT'S DEATH! And that crazy motherf***er from Australia got out where 99.99% of people who have ever lived would have tapped out."
Watch the video below from 1:30:
Alexander Volkanovski is "looking forward" to facing Yair Rodriguez
Alexander Volkanovski suffered the first defeat of his UFC career against Islam Makhachev at UFC 284. However, 'The Great' still holds the featherweight title, and is eager to defend it against the newly crowned interim-champion, Yair Rodriguez.
Rodriguez defeated Josh Emmett to win the interim-featherweight title at UFC 284 via submission. He stated in the post-fight press conference that he would like to face Volkanovski in September to unify the belts. However, 'The Great' would prefer to fight sooner.
Alexander Volkanovski is targeting International Fight Week in June or July for his bout with Yair Rodriguez, according to a recent video uploaded to Volkanovski's YouTube channel.
"I'm hoping to fight three times this year. We headline International Fight Week, what do you reckon Yair? I've got to step in the octagan with Yair Rodriguez whenever that it. So I'm looking forward to that."
Watch the video below: