“Ilia is going to be in for a rude awakening” - Alexander Volkanovski’s coach calls him “one of the strongest human beings on Earth” ahead of UFC 298

Alexander Volkanovski's camp continues to believe that he is above the level of Ilia Topuria.

During UFC 298 fight week, accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Craig Jones joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour as one of the featherweight champion's grappling coaches. In the interview, Jones told Helwani that he believes Topuria will be in for a 'rude awakening' on Feb. 17 against 'one of the strongest human beings on Earth.'

Jones said:

"I have to imagine the grappling does favor Volkanovski... For me, personally, when I train with Volk, he feels like a welterweight. He feels like one of the strongest f****** human beings on Earth. So I think as soon as he gets his hands on Ilia, Ilia is going to be in for a rude awakening."

Jones' comments may surprise some fans, as on paper, the grappling edge would seemingly favor Topuria. Both featherweights are Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, but Topuria has gained a larger reputation as a grappler, with eight of his 14 career wins by submission.

Volkanovski, contrarily, has just three of his 26 career wins by submission, with a majority of his victories coming by knockout.

Jones' comments ahead of UFC 298 are not the first time the BJJ expert has made a bold prediction regarding Volkanovski, as the coach previously predicted that the featherweight champion would 'kill' the sport of sambo by defeating Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.

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UFC 298 full fight card: Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria headline first PPV of 2024 in the United States

As the main event of UFC 298, Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria will settle their dispute for the UFC featherweight championship.

The result of the fight will be a first for either man. Topuria, 14-0, has never lost a professional MMA fight, while Volkanovski, 26-3, has not lost a fight at featherweight in his career.

The full fight card is as listed below:

UFC 298 main card (ESPN+ PPV)

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria

Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa

Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry

Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo

Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov

Preliminary card (ESPN and ESPN+)

Amanda Lemos vs. Mackenzie Dern

Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa

Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera

Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro

Early preliminary card (ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass)

Josh Quinlan vs. Danny Barlow

Oban Elliott vs. Valentin Woodburn

Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick