Alexander Volkanovski will headline UFC 290 this weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Yair Rodriguez.
The promotion’s reigning featherweight champion is widely regarded as one of the best fighters in the sport, ranking #2 in the UFC pound-for-pound ratings.
But his journey to the top has not been exactly conventional.
Before switching to mixed martial arts, he was a semi-pro rugby player and weighed 100 kg despite being only 1.5 meters tall.
Former Warilla Gorilla teammate Ngatai Hetet told the Athletic how Volkanovski used to crumple men much taller than him
Alexander Volkanovski is the UFC featherweight champion and has never lost by 145 pounds
Alexander Volkanovski (below) was a very different size during his rugby league days
At his heaviest, Volkanovski nearly tipped the scales at 100kg before falling back to 65kg
‘[His opposition was] three times as big, and he was the best in the whole league,” Hetet said. “These guys are heavyweights like Brock Lesnar.
“Alex just wore dudes. He would always fend off a player. He was incredible. If he had an extra foot, he’d definitely be in the [National Rugby League].
“He didn’t care how tall people were. He would just run the ball all day. He wasn’t afraid, no matter how big they were.
And even if someone twice his size starts bullying him or trying to fight him, he’ll clean them up. You wouldn’t want to pick a fight with him, no matter how big they were.
“There was a guy named Shrek who was probably the biggest in the league. Nearly 7 feet and 150 pounds. He and Alex ended up having a bit of a scuffle, a bit of a fight. Because Alex was so small, he had to jump up to try to hit him on the head.
“But Alex wasn’t afraid. He didn’t care how tall you were. If you wanted to fight, Alex would.’
At the age of 22 he started training in MMA to keep fit during the rugby league off-season and quickly fell in love with the sport.
So much so that he decided to drop rugby for fights a year later and hasn’t looked back since.
A promising Greco-Roman wrestler in his youth, Volkanovski took to MMA like a duck to water.
Volkanovski has only lost once in the UFC against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev
Volkanovski is undefeated at 145 pounds and has beaten some of the best fighters in the sport
During a 27-fight professional career stretching from 2012, Volkanovski has only lost twice; an early meeting with the relatively unknown Corey Nelson and his most recent fight against UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
However, in his natural home of featherweight, he remains undefeated and ranks among the best 145lbers of all time.
Volkanovski has fought and defeated all but one of the former division title holders of his era.
That’s Conor McGregor, desperate to see the Aussie in the cage.
When asked who his dream fight is while appearing on the MMA Fan Podcast, he said, “It’s pretty easy for me to say Conor McGregor because he was at featherweight.
“He was a featherweight. We must not forget the champions I defeated. I’ve beaten every other champion in the featherweight division.
“The only champion I haven’t fought in the featherweight division is Conor McGregor.”
These comments would lead to a social media spat between the pair shortly afterwards. “Let’s do it at Lightweight,” Volkanovski wrote on Twitter.
“Lol bang,” McGregor fired back. But Volkanovski refused to back down.
‘Always. Everywhere. Any weight!’ he answered.
“Then why are you asking for 155? That’s what I’m saying too,” McGregor wrote.
But Volkanovski, who has competed up to middleweight, would get the final say on the matter.
‘Yes, you say it, but I did it. I’ve fought at middleweight, welterweight, lightweight and featherweight,” Volkanovski said.
Volkanovski wants to fight Conor McGregor, the only 145-pound champion he hasn’t faced in his day
The fight has yet to take place and it now looks very unlikely as the Irishman is about to return to action at 170 pounds.
But one fight that could take place under the banner of the UFC this year is the bizarre blockbuster bout between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
UFC president Dana White claims that both men are “dead serious” about facing each other in a “cage match” and is eager to promote it.
Musk has already started training with former twoweight UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, while Volkanovski is eager to help his old friend Zuckerberg.
The Facebook founder is a huge UFC fan and has forged an unlikely friendship with Volkanovski in recent years.
“Yes, he’s a mate,” Volkanovski said last year.
“I knew long before he appeared in the UFC that he is a huge fan. He likes the sport.
“I really consider him my mate. Again, he’s a cool guy, we get along.”
Volkanovski’s manager Ash Belcastro confirmed that the pair talk “quite a bit” on the phone and that his client is open to helping Zuckerberg prepare for his billionaire bust-up.
“We hung out with Mark and talked to him about fighting,” Belcastro revealed.
“Obviously this was before all the Elon Musk stuff, but he’s definitely open to it and Volk would definitely be there to help.”
Volkanovski faces Yair Rodriguez this weekend at UFC 290 graphic credit: sofascore. com
Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have agreed to fight each other in a cage over social media
For now, however, Volkanovski’s attention is fixed on his impending clash with Rodriguez.
The Mexican warrior took the interim featherweight title as Volkanovski moved up to 155 pounds to take on Makhachev and now chases his undisputed crown.
Rodriguez is on a two-fight win streak, having won eight of his last ten.
He is known for his unpredictability and wild unorthodox attacks, as seen in his barn burner against ‘The Korean Zombie’ Jung Chan-sung.
With only one second left in the fight, Rodriguez threw a Hail Mary elbow as he dove low, which landed perfectly on his opponent’s chin and put him to sleep.
The knockout is one of the craziest stoppages in the history of the sport.