JRE MMA Show #110 with Craig Jones & Alex Volkanovski
Joe Rogan (host), Narrator, Alex Volkanovski (guest), Craig Jones (guest), Narrator, Alex Volkanovski (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Narrator, JRE MMA Show #110 with Craig Jones & Alex Volkanovski explores volkanovski, Craig Jones Reveal Ultimate Fighter Chaos, COVID Battles, Future Wars Alexander Volkanovski and Craig Jones join Joe Rogan to talk about filming The Ultimate Fighter, the evolution of MMA and grappling, and the realities of elite fight preparation. Volkanovski breaks down the rising featherweight talent pool, his rivalry with Max Holloway, and his upcoming title defense against Brian Ortega, including strategic insights and psychological angles. Jones details life under John Danaher, the leg-lock revolution, brutal competition injuries, and why he’s wary of MMA despite coaching on TUF. The conversation also dives into COVID, vaccine reactions, staph infections, overtraining, and how true high-level camps manage recovery, strength, and game-planning.
Volkanovski, Craig Jones Reveal Ultimate Fighter Chaos, COVID Battles, Future Wars
Alexander Volkanovski and Craig Jones join Joe Rogan to talk about filming The Ultimate Fighter, the evolution of MMA and grappling, and the realities of elite fight preparation. Volkanovski breaks down the rising featherweight talent pool, his rivalry with Max Holloway, and his upcoming title defense against Brian Ortega, including strategic insights and psychological angles. Jones details life under John Danaher, the leg-lock revolution, brutal competition injuries, and why he’s wary of MMA despite coaching on TUF. The conversation also dives into COVID, vaccine reactions, staph infections, overtraining, and how true high-level camps manage recovery, strength, and game-planning.
Key Takeaways
Elite camps separate learning phases from fight camps.
Volkanovski emphasizes that true technical evolution happens between fights; once an opponent is booked, every session becomes tightly structured around that matchup, while off-camp time is for adding new layers and deepening skills.
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Modern fighters must be truly well-rounded, not just 'multi-skilled'.
It’s no longer enough to have striking plus basic grappling; Volkanovski and Jones stress that you need integrated offense/defense in all phases (wrestling, jiu-jitsu, wall work) and the ability to choose the right 'tool' at the right time.
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Cardio and energy management separate champions from contenders.
Volkanovski describes deliberately brutal conditioning sessions where he pushes to breaking point, making fight night feel easier; he also exploits opponents’ early explosiveness, knowing their sharpness drops dramatically after a minute or two.
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Overtraining can quietly destroy your immune system and career.
Both guests link hard camps to worse COVID cases and chronic staph/MRSA infections, showing that seven-day training weeks and constant hard rounds without smart recovery can lead to serious illness and long-term damage.
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Grappling has been transformed by systematic leg-lock development.
Jones explains how Danaher’s structured, experimental approach and events like EBI and ADCC created a platform for heel hooks and leg-lock systems to dominate, forcing the entire jiu-jitsu world to adapt or be left behind.
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High-level defense makes offense freer and more dangerous.
Rogan and Jones highlight that when fighters and grapplers trust their defensive escapes (from mount, back, takedowns, submissions), they attack more confidently, because they’re not paralyzed by fear of bad positions.
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Injuries and medical setbacks are managed as much mentally as physically.
From fighting with staph or broken fingers to dealing with neck, back, and vaccine side effects, they show how top athletes weigh risk vs. ...
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Notable Quotes
“I don’t want to experience an uncomfortable feeling in the fight. I’m gonna experience it in camp.”
— Alexander Volkanovski
“It’s better to be good at one than shit at both.”
— Craig Jones, on specializing in no-gi vs. gi
“What I know now won’t be enough in a couple of months.”
— Alexander Volkanovski
“We train seven days a week. Unfortunately Jon holds us to a higher standard ‘cause he’s there seven days a week.”
— Craig Jones
“You can’t have any holes in your game at the elite level anymore.”
— Joe Rogan
Questions Answered in This Episode
How much of Volkanovski’s success against Max Holloway came from pre-planned strategy versus real-time adjustments in the cage?
Alexander Volkanovski and Craig Jones join Joe Rogan to talk about filming The Ultimate Fighter, the evolution of MMA and grappling, and the realities of elite fight preparation. ...
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Given Craig Jones’ experiences with overtraining and infections, where is the true balance point between necessary grind and counterproductive damage for grapplers?
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How would MMA tactics change if the UFC adopted a 10-minute first round like old Pride instead of 5-minute rounds?
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To what extent are modern leg-lock systems still underutilized or misunderstood in high-level MMA compared to no-gi grappling?
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How should commissions and promotions better protect fighters from long-term issues like spinal degeneration, staph/MRSA, and repeat COVID/vaccine complications while preserving high-level performance?
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Transcript Preview
(drum music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays) And we're up with, uh, the baddest motherfucker in the 145-pound division on the planet Earth, Alexander The Great Volkanovski.
Yeah.
And, uh, by default, the number one grappler on the planet because he-
(laughs)
... poisoned his teammate.
Yeah, but you're breaking secrets there.
Oh, it's a, it's a lie.
(laughs)
It's not true. Craig Jones, you bad motherfucker. Um-
(laughs)
... what were you about to say?
I'm just glad to be present right now because last time we had, uh, our, our podcast, I don't even remember it. Uh-
How do you not remember it?
Well, Vegas, Vegas got me.
Oh.
I remember coming in, I'm like, yeah, man. And I was, like, in a weird bubble. Maybe nerves and that included in it. I don't know what it was, but I literally don't even remember it 'cause I was, I had big nights over there, you know.
Oh, okay.
So yeah.
Nights.
Big, big nights. And then I un- like I barely remember it, so I'm like, "Man-
Huh.
... what did, what did I say?" I, I literally thought, like, the boys, uh, they're in the green room and they're like, "Oh, no, you talked about this." I go, "I talked about that?" Like, I honestly couldn't remember nothing, but-
Welcome to my life.
Yes.
I leave here and people are mad at me. And I'm like, "What the fuck did I say?" And they're like, "You said that thing about the guy." And I'm like, "Did I?"
(laughs)
I don't remember what the fuck I said. Yeah, 'cause if you're in a good conversation, it just goes down the hole.
That's it.
Um-
Speaking of good conversations, you were on The Great and Powerful Alex Jones Show yesterday.
Yes.
What the fuck was that like?
A great experience.
(laughs)
Uh, Alex is just as funny in real life as he is on the show.
He's hilarious.
I could listen to that guy talk all day and-
Yeah, he easily could be a standup comedian.
Easily. I think, uh, I'm actually trying to convince him. I believe he's gonna come to the grappling show this Friday night, and I'm gonna persuade him to jump in the corner. So I'm gonna have Alex Jones and Jon Danaher.
(laughs)
And what, so Joe-
Whoa.
... what do you reckon? Are you gonna jump in there too maybe, hey?
No.
(laughs)
I, I just may- might have to separate Jon from Alex. I don't know, know if those personalities will work so well.
Imagine that as a podcast.
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