Alexander Volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovsky is the current UFC featherweight champion, one of the best fighters on the planet, regardless of weight class. His nickname "The Great" has long ceased to be just a vivid pseudonym — he has an impressive record: 28 wins with 4 losses, six successful defenses of the championship belt and a place in the top five of the pound-for-pound rating.Alexander was born on September 29 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. His father is Macedonian, his mother is Greek. At the age of eight, he began practicing Greco-Roman wrestling and by the age of twelve he had become the Australian junior champion. However, at the age of fourteen, he changed directions and went into rugby, a more popular and commercially promising sport in his native country. Volkanovski joined the Warilla Gorillas team and played in the semi-professional regional league, where he was recognized as the best player of the season. In those years, he weighed over 95 kilograms.

The transition to mixed martial arts happened almost by accident — for the sake of keeping fit in the offseason, Volkanovski joined the MMA hall. The very first sparring sessions showed that his wrestling base and physical strength give him a serious advantage. He made his professional debut, starting his career in the middleweight division, and gradually moved up to the featherweight division, losing about thirty kilograms.

Volkanovski joined the UFC in 2016 and quickly established himself due to the high pace of the fight, accurate punches and the ability to impose his own fight pattern. This was followed by successful title defenses — a rematch with Holloway, fights with Brian Ortega, the Korean Zombie and Yair Rodriguez. Volkanovsky twice rose to lightweight for the sake of a superfight with Islam Makhachev, which emphasized his fighting ambitions. He lost the belt to Elijah Topuria, but after Topuria vacated the title to move up to lightweight, Volkanovski regained the championship belt by defeating Diego Lopez at UFC 314. He then successfully defended the title in a rematch with Lopez at UFC 325 in Sydney.

Alexander Volkanovsky will make another belt defense at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, where his opponent will be undefeated Russian fighter Movsar Yevloev. If you want to see Alexander Volkanovsky in one of the future fights, you can buy tickets for events with his participation on the website.