WATCH | Alexander Volkanovski tries to submit NBA champion Jamal Murray in under a minute

By Josh Evanoff - September 28, 2023

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently got some work with Jamal Murray.

Alexander Volkanovski and Jamal Murray

‘The Great’ has been out of the cage since a knockout win over Yair Rodriguez in July at UFC 290. Since then, the featherweight champion has called out a variety of names, including Islam Makhachev. However, as of now, Alexander Volkanovski has yet to book his return to the cage.

Luckily, he recently got some training in with Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray. The former NBA champion is a noted MMA fan and has attended several UFC events in the past. As the much bigger man, he appeared in a recent video on Alexander Volkanovski’s YouTube channel.

In the video, Alexander Volkanovski and Jamal Murray did some light training. However, the two eventually had an idea to have a little grappling match. However, the NBA star wasn’t going for submissions at all and was just trying to survive during the minute-long encounter.

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Shockingly, the basketball player performed very well early in the scramble. However, Alexander Volkanovski eventually found his way to Jamal Murray’s back. There, it looked like he could’ve locked up the rear-naked choke, but he was running out of time.

As a result, Alexander Volkanovski let the position go and eventually found Jamal Murray in a guillotine as he was getting up. While a slick submission, the NBA champion didn’t tap until the timer went off. As a result, he got the “win” in this challenge with the UFC titleholder.

Nonetheless, it was a fun exchange and video featuring the two champions. Following the grappling match, Volkanovski took Murray aside and continued to work with him. For one of the toughest men on the planet, the featherweight champion doesn’t seem to have any issue training with anyone.

What do you make of this video featuring Jamal Murray? Who do you want to see Alexander Volkanovski fight next?