UFC featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski has put his skills to the test against NBA champion Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray.
Both men are accustomed to dealing with size disadvantages in their respective sports and have been able to achieve great things regardless.
Volkanovski stands at 5'6" and typically finds himself competing against fighters who are a few inches taller, but none of them are quite as big as Murray.
Despite being 6'4" and weighing 215lbs, the basketball star is towered over by NBA defenders who are often over seven feet tall and much heavier.
Murray recently met up with Volkanovski to receive some striking and grappling tips from the pound-for-pound best fighter on the UFC roster.
It wasn’t long before the 26-year-old Canadian was ready to test his newly acquired skills and he boldly challenged Volkanovski to try to submit him in 60 seconds.
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“I’m just not going to get submitted in a minute,” Murray said.
“You try to submit me in under a minute and I’m just going to try to survive.”
‘The Great’ smiled at the challenge before trying to figure out the rules of their grappling contest.
Murray was happy for him to go full force and try any submission besides leg locks.
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As expected, the NBA star’s sheer size didn’t really help him, and he was played with by Volkanovski who locked up a guillotine choke just before the buzzer sounded to end the contest.
Murray could be seen tapping out, but it was right on the 60-second mark and Volkanovski decided to give him the win, he said: “I think he made it, you made the minute!”
After a moment of rest, the unlikely friends went back to grappling and Volkanovski made Murray pay for victory by submitting him several times.
At the end of the session, an exhausted, but undeterred Murray, sat against the gym wall and said: “I’ll be better tomorrow.”
Volkanovski added: “Just remember, you’re much better [at MMA] than I am at playing basketball.”
The UFC’s 145lbs king is currently enjoying some time away from camp after stopping interim champion Yair Rodriguez to unify the division at UFC 290 in July.
He’ll soon return to proper training for a potential fight in January.
The frontrunner to face Volkanovski next is undefeated contender Ilia Topuria, but a rematch with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev could also be on the cards.
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Conor McGregor has also called out Volkanovski.
So, no matter what happens, it appears the Aussie fan favourite will have plenty of fights to keep him busy in 2024.
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