There’s bad blood between UFC head honcho Dana White and ADCC silver medalist, multi-time Polaris champion, elite submission stylist, and coach to champions Alexander Volkanovski and Jack Della Maddalena, Craig Jones. The Australian grappling phenom gained quite a bit of attention last year for hosting CJI, or ‘Craig Jones Invitation,’ as a way to counter the hegemony of ADCC, or Abu Dhabi Combat Club in submission grappling. His main complaint was the payment issues with the event, and its exclusivity on FloGrappling. Just when all seemed smooth — enter Dana White and UFC BJJ.

In an Instagram post, the ADCC star expressed his views on UFC BJJ. He said, ”People think I’m taking this UFC BJJ very personal but I wish their finale today all the success in the world. Obviously, they stole the pit, the rules, the judges, they’re blocking staff from working our event but I hope the finale goes off with a bang today. I hope all you guys tune in to watch my ideas come to fruition on the UFC YouTube channel.” Yup. Jones feels White stole his idea. The whole initiative was started by the Aussie to pay BJJ athletes well. But with the UFC now locking BJJ stars in exclusive contracts, that might not happen, and Jones might not really find the required talent for his brand.

During a recent conversation with the MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, Craig Jones weighed in on his current relationship with the UFC. According to Jones, White and his team want him to coach Jack Della Maddalena in his quest against Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. And now, his presence is required by ‘JDM’ in preparation for Islam Makhachev.

The Jiu-Jitsu elite claimed, “UFC hates me, but they also hate Dagestani wrestlers. Jack Della is fighting Islam Makhachev, so they’re in a catch-22. They’re like, f—, we hate this guy, but we hate these wrestlers as well. So, I think they want me. I helped them get rid of Belal. Like, hold on a bit longer, guys, we’ll get rid of Islam Makhachev for you.”

Craig Jones isn’t really a fan of cornering MMA athletes. He expressed his opinion about coaching MMA fighters back when he partnered with Alexander Volkanovski at TUF 29. And guess what? According to the ADCC medalist, when the UFC came knocking at his door, they were a bit desperate.  

Craig Jones on coaching Jack Della Maddalena for UFC 315

While talking to The Mac Life, Jones revealed the reality behind his role as a coach for Della Maddalena. He said, “I’ll be honest. This was not a personal vendetta by any means. I like Belal. I might be the only one. But let’s think back. It’s probably when this fight got booked, I got a phone call from a person. I don’t even know how they got my number, to be honest.”

Jones continued, “But Dana White called me up and he said, ‘Listen, Craig, the UFC is in dire stress.’ As we know. You tell me that on a daily basis. And he said, ‘The fate of the UFC’s profitability, arguably even TKO as a whole, lays into this fight we’ve got coming up on Saturday night.’ He basically — Dana was begging me.”

But what made him commit to the UFC’s requirements? Well, it was the plea from the MMA fans. He revealed that he kept receiving requests from fans to get rid of Muhammad. Well, that ended up happening. Now, it’s time for him to do the same with the former lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, according to Jones. What do you think will happen this time?