Craig Jones: "We have to make Australia great again!" - Islam Makhachev continues taking huge shots at Craig Jones

Newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev continued taking shots at Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Craig Jones. Makhachev’s opponent for UFC 322, Jack Della Maddalena, trained under Jones to bolster his wrestling skills ahead of the fight.

However, Maddalena was no match for Makhachev’s ground game and was dominated for five rounds. The Australian lost the welterweight title in his first defense, and the Russian has now hit out at Jones.

Makhachev took to X and proclaimed that the only way to make Australia great was by firing Jones:

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This comes on the back of Makhachev also defeating Alexander Volkanovski, another Aussie, twice before he took on the Della Maddalena task.

Jones has been part of Volkanovski’s team, but that didn’t help ‘The Great’ much in his fights against Makhachev. Jones has poked fun at Sambo and Dagestani wrestlers over the years and was handed some advice by Makhachev after UFC 322.

Islam Makhachev wants Craig Jones in Dagestan

Islam Makhachev’s "‘send 2-3 years [to] Dagestan" line was initially aimed at close friend Daniel Cormier. Makhachev wanted Cormier’s sons to learn wrestling in Dagestan but the line has now become huge in MMA pop culture.

Right after Makhachev defeated Della Maddalena at UFC 322, he aimed the same comments at Jones, who was in the Australian’s corner.

Reports suggested that Khabib Nurmagomedov also took a swipe at Jones and repeated something similar to what Makhachev said.

However, Jones isn’t someone who will take this lying down. The Australian was quick to respond to the invitation and posted a meme. Makhachev’s manager also took a shot at Jones after UFC 322. Ali Abdelaziz spoke to Fox Sports Australia and played down Jones’ skills and abilities:

"Hey, Australia, deport Craig Jones. He makes guys lose. He's not good for MMA. JDM could’ve done so much better if he tried to get back up, but this buggy choke and all that stuff didn’t work. He’s a jiu-jitsu guy who tries to be relevant using MMA guys."