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UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently had a seminar at the opening of Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA gym in Phuket, Thailand. Having had his MMA stomping grounds in the Asian country, it's no surprise that Volkanovski supports local Thai gyms.
During the opening, the champ was interviewed by Nick Atkin of the South China Mornig Post. They spoke about Alexander Volkanovski's love for Thailand, the opening of the new gym, and some of his plans for the near future.
One of the more interesting spots of the interview was Volkanovski's interaction with ONE featherweight kickboxing champion Superbon Singha Mawynn. The ONE fighter also did a seminar at the same gym and had some time to chat with the UFC featherweight king.
Here's what Alexander Volkanovski said regarding the idea of training Superbon in MMA:
"I winded up having a chat with him yesterday. Yeah, I'd love to pick his brain with some things as well. So yeah, man, we can definitely do that. I can help him with some MMA stuff and there's always room for improvement with some of that Muay Thai base as well, kickboxing base. So, I'd love to pick his brain."
Watch the full interview here:
"I think with the right coaches, they can turn him to a real beast in MMA" - Alexander Volkanovski on Superbon's possible transition to MMA
When asked how he thought Superbon would fare in MMA, Alexander Volkanovski had specific notes. The Aussie said:
"Man, look, if he has the right coaching around him, and yeah, again, it's not hard. He's obviously knows the striking. He doesn't need to learn how to be a really good jiu-jitsu grappler or a really good wrestler. He just needs to learn not get to the mat. Takedown defense, scrambling back to the feet. Majority of your time on the mat should be focusing on that range and making it hard for them to get you to the mat and you'll be dangerous."
Superbon has had a massively successful 2021 and early 2022. He viciously knocked out the legendary Giorgio Petrosyan and then avenged his last loss to Marat Grigorian at ONE X last month.
On what Superbon should focus on if he is to transition to MMA, Alexander Volkanovski further said:
"Yeah, I feel like a lot of people, they're strikers as well and they want to do grappling, they throw them in the grappling class and they're doing a lot of attacks in grappling. Don't worry about that. Don't waste any time grappling off your back. Get to your feet. So that should be your main focus... Cage work, distance control, little things like that. So it's not too much to learn... I think with the right coaches they can turn him to a real beast in MMA."
If 'The Great' feels that Superbon has the potential to become a beast in MMA, we best believe he knows what he is talking about.
