Alexander Volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovski (born 29 September 1988) is an Australian professional mixed martial artist.

He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Featherweight Champion.

He is also a former Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) Featherweight champion.

Volkanovski was born on 29 September 1988, in Wollongong, New South Wales.

His father was born in the village of Beranci in Yugoslavia, SR Macedonia (now North Macedonia) while his mother is from Greece.

Alex began training in Greco-Roman wrestling at an early age and won a national title twice at the age of 12.

He decided to give up wrestling at the age of 14 and instead focused on a career in rugby league as a front rower.

Volkanovski attended Lake Illawarra High School throughout his teenage years and worked as a concreter after graduation.

He played semi-professional rugby league for the Warilla Gorillas in the Group 7 Rugby League where he was awarded the Mick Cronin Medal in 2010 as the league's best player.

He also played a crucial role in Warilla's 2011 Premiership winning season and received the Man of the Match award for his performance in his team's Grand Final victory over Gerringong.

Volkanovski then decided to quit rugby league at 23 years of age to pursue a professional career in Mixed Martial Arts in the latter half of 2011.

He claims to have watched Ultimate Fighting Championship events since childhood and would often rent UFC VHS tapes from Blockbuster as well as purchase UFC pay per views from 14 years of age.

Coach Joe Lopez said Volkanovski started training in MMA at the age of 22 and Greco-Roman wrestling to keep fit during the rugby league off season, where he weighed 97 kg. However, he soon realized he had a passion for the sport and wanted to go as far as he could.

Volkanovski quickly became a good counter striker with a powerful overhand right as well as a fantastic offensive wrestler.

He initially competed in multiple amateur fights in the middleweight division as he adjusted from his rugby weight before turning professional and moving down to welterweight, lightweight and ultimately the featherweight division.

"There are no excuses in fighting. You can be playing a team sport and have a good game, and you can lose. In fighting, it’s all on me. If I go out there and lose, then it’s my fault. I like that. So I know if I fight well, I’m going to win. I definitely love the fact that it’s all on you, and you do what you have to do to win. Each fight is like a grand final in the rugby league."

Volkanovski is based at Freestyle Fighting Gym in Wollongong but regularly completes training camps at Tiger Muay Thai and Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA in Phuket and City Kickboxing in Auckland with fellow UFC fighters, former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France.

Members of Volkanovski's team have included Eugene Bareman and Craig Jones.

Starting as an amateur at middleweight and going 4–0 before turning professional, Volkanovski has fought in various MMA organizations in the Oceania region in Asia from 2012 to July 2016 before signing with the UFC.

He won a Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC) title and two Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) Featherweight titles.

Volkanovski amassed a record of 13–1 with 10 straight wins prior to joining the UFC.

Prior to his UFC debut, Volkanovski competed as a professional boxer in 2015.

As of 20 February 2024, he is #1 in the UFC featherweight rankings and as of 12 March 2024, he is #8 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.

Volkanovski made his promotional debut on 26 November 2016, and increased his win streak to 11 with a second-round TKO against Yusuke Kasuya at UFC Fight Night 101.

He announced at the post-fight press conference that he would drop from lightweight to featherweight for his next fight.

Volkanovski was expected to face Michel Quiñones on 19 February 2017 at UFC Fight Night 105.

However, the bout was scrapped after Quiñones suffered an injury and no replacement could be found.

Volkanovski returned to Featherweight and faced Mizuto Hirota on 11 June 2017 at UFC Fight Night 110.

He won the fight via unanimous decision after almost finishing Hirota following a knockdown.

Volkanovski was expected to face Jeremy Kennedy at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura on 19 November 2017, in Sydney, Australia.

However, Kennedy pulled out of the fight on 5 October, citing a back injury and was replaced by Humberto Bandenay.

In November 2017, it was announced that Bandenay would delay his UFC debut at this event due to undisclosed reasons, and was replaced by Drex Zamboanga.

In turn, Zamboanga pulled out of the fight due to visa issues and was replaced by promotional newcomer Shane Young.

The bout proceeded at a catchweight of 150 pounds.

Volkanovski won the fight via unanimous decision.

The bout with Kennedy was rescheduled and took place on 11 February 2018 at UFC 221.

He won the fight via technical knockout.

Volkanovski faced Darren Elkins on 14 July 2018 at UFC Fight Night 133.

He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Volkanovski faced Chad Mendes on 29 December 2018 at UFC 232.