Craig Jones recalls Islam Makhachev UFC 322 cage-side roasting

Craig Jones had no comeback when Islam Makhachev confronted him cage-side at UFC 322 last November. The grappling coach, who has built a reputation on talk about jiu-jitsu beating combat sambo, watched his charge Jack Della Maddalena get controlled on the mat for five rounds by the lightweight champion.

Makhachev didn't wait for the decision to start chirping. "Islam was screaming at me. The fight was still going on," Jones told Ariel Helwani, per Sherdog. "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.'"

Khabib joins in, lists Jones camp losses

After the fight, Khabib Nurmagomedov joined his protégé to run through a ledger. The former champion rattled off names of fighters who had worked with Jones before losing to Makhachev — Della Maddalena, Alexander Volkanovski twice, and Dan Hooker. Jones pushed back on one data point. "I was like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't coach Dan Hooker. That's 3, my friend,'" he said. Hooker was the only one submitted, Jones noted, which in his internal math meant the mission was a success regardless.

Jones said the whole exchange stayed friendly, with Makhachev showing more humor than Nurmagomedov, who wanted Jones to "say something good about Sambo." The Australian later added that Volkanovski has been trying to broker a training session between Jones and the Dagestani crew. "I think one day we're gonna link up and train together," Jones said. That session would close the jiu-jitsu-versus-sambo debate, or at least give both sides new material.

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• Sherdog — Craig Jones recalls Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov's UFC 322 banter