"He was shooting in on me!" - BJJ black belt recalls a savage Alexander Volkanovski training jiu-jitsu with a full knee-brace before UFC career
Alexander Volkanovski has evolved into one of the most talented UFC fighters on the roster over the past three years with a number of remarkable performances.
'The Great' has highlighted the level of determination and desire that has paved the way for him to become arguably the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.
Volkanovski suffered defeat in the octagon for the first time against Islam Makhahev at UFC 284, in a close contest. The ability that 'The Great' has to seemingly take on any challenge, no matter how daunting, has endeared him to the MMA fanbase.
Recently, a BJJ black belt and former four-time BJJ World Championship competitor, James Tomlinson, recalled training with Alexander Volkanovski many years before his UFC career. Tomlinson stated that despite wearing a full knee brace, 'The Great' was going for takedowns and giving his all in BJJ training.
Tomlinson is the co-host of rising BJJ podcast, Bulletproof for BJJ, alongside fellow black belt Joe Worthington. During a recent episode of the podcast, Tomlinson said this:
"[Alexander Volkanovski] is a good dude, I've met him. I trained with him, he was in a knee brace, I've said this before, it's one of those knee braces where it's fixed. It's like hard plastic, a bit of metal and it's fixed at like 45 degrees. You can't extend or bend [the brace] passed that point. He was shooting in on me at ADCC class! This was before he was the champ, I didn't even really know who he was."
Watch the video below from 7:20:
Alexander Volkanovski's rematch with Islam Makhchev could be hampered by Justin Gaethje's win at UFC 291
Justin Gaethje's head kick KO over Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 has now positioned him as the lightweight likely to face the winner of Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira.
Alexander Volkanovski, who gave Makhachev the hardest fight of his career at UFC 284, has expressed his desire to face the Dagestani again after losing a narrow decision. But Gaethje's performance at UFC 291 will complicate matters for 'The Great', who has a number of possible fights at featherweight too.
Budding prospect Ilia Topuria has emerged as a possible title challenger. Also, the bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has stated that he will be moving up a weight class in the future.
UFC commentator Jon Anik believes that Justin Gaethje's win over Dustin Poirier may impede Alexander Volkanovski's double-champ ambitions. He said:
"This result with Justin Gaethje is maybe not a great result for him in terms of the pecking order for [Volkanovski's] rematch with Islam Makhachev. I think if I’m Ilia Topuria, the Justin Gaethje result is perfect for me because I’m probably going to get Volkanovski next."
Watch the conversation below from 8:40: