Another incredible life story that started from scratch and became one of the most successful sports careers in the world. Alexander Volkanovski, the pound-for-pound king of the UFC, has gone through thick and thin to become what he is today.
Coming from a working family who migrated from their native Macedonia to Australia to seek a better future, Alexander Volkanovski is someone who had to go through great struggles to reach his status and his position. Ever since his late teens, Alexander Volkanovski started working as a concrete worker in a local company in Australia.
Alexander Volkanovski’s Story – From Concrete Worker To The Best Pound-For-Pound Fighter In The UFC
It is a very difficult, physically demanding job that would most probably leave a common person completely drained after the end of his shift. However, this was not the case with Alexander. His mindset and his talent were something that prepared him for something great. It is just that he didn’t know what that something is at that time.
After the long and heavy hours at his workplace, Alexander Volkanovski continued his struggle on the rugby field, where he started off as an undersized rugby player. Even though his height and body structure were obviously not ones that an enthusiastic rugby player would strive for, he somehow managed to accomplish some success on this field as well.
During the period in between seasons, when Alexander Volkanovski didn’t train rugby, he found himself in an MMA gym. He used it as a recreation, just to keep in shape for his rugby training. However, it didn’t take long for his talent and incredible strength to come to the surface, hinting at the success that he can accomplish in the octagon. It is like he had a secret weapon helping him conquer his battles.
Alexander Volkanovski has a unique mindset and character. He sets his eyes on some price and there is something in him that doesn’t allow him to quit until he acquires it. The combination of will and tenacity makes him one price-focused individual. While he was uncertain how long it would take to accomplish his goals, one was certain. He was not quitting on his dreams.
Alexander Volkanovski was brought up in the Illawarra region in the suburbs of south Sidney. His surroundings and the nature of the people around him massively boosted his development into the man he is today.
“If they made a movie about my life it would start here. I was born in Wollongong hospital and I’ve always lived here. You know Wollongong, these whole regions are pretty big and they’ve always been a part of Illawarra.” – Alexander Volkanovski speaks about his hometown. “Being from this sort of area you know, a lot of people say we’re a rough and tough type of guys. But, we’re a hard-working community. Whether it’s just everyone’s been playing football their whole life, or working in the steelworks that’s all they know. All they know is hard work. It made me tough it made me who I am and it made me the fighter I am.”
The UFC Featherweight champion started off with training in his early childhood. Being a second-generation Australian, he enrolled in soccer and that’s where all of it began. His incredible endurance and cardio hinted at the fact that he can become an athlete in any sport if he continued to put the effort into it. Alexander Volkanovski quickly saw that soccer is not for him, and transitioned to wrestling, at an age of 12 years old.
The wrestling coaches recognized the talent he has for martial arts straight away. During his two-year career in wrestling from age 12 to 14, he managed to become a two-time national champion only losing once in his wrestling career. Funny enough, he lost only to his older brother.
According to Alexander Volkanovski, these two years in wrestling were the stepping stone from which he started off his rugby career. He was a decent rugby junior. However, even though he was good, rugby wasn’t paying his bills. That’s why Alexander Volkanovski decided to join his father, and become a concrete worker.
Taking into consideration that the concrete work is physically exhausting and demanding, it is a true wonder how the young Aussie managed to do both, work and train rugby. Not only that he trained, but he bulked up to this 215lbs monster. A person that gave a notion like he is wide as much as he is tall.
“I’m that hard-working guy that never gives up and always adapts to whatever’s in front of me. No matter how hard it is, I’m going to take it on and I’ve got pretty much where I live to thank for that.” – Alexander Volkanovski told about his character.
At an age of 22 years old, Alexander Volkanovski realized that his physical disadvantages would not allow him to accomplish a bright career in rugby. This forced him to make the life-changing switch to MMA.
Alexander Volkanovski recalls how the coaches at the MMA gym in Illawarra worried about him and advised him not to spar with fighters that were much heavier than himself. However, the stubborn Aussie did not listen and managed to prove himself against the first ‘bigger’ opponent he met inside the octagon.
Until this moment, the coaches at the gym didn’t think of Volkanovski as someone who could pursue a career in MMA. However, his first sparring session was a turning point in his life. One of the coaches, Joe Lopez, asked Alexander Volkanovski if he would like to train professionally and compete.
There was another issue at hand for Alexander Volkanovski. His weight of 215lbs was not of help. Staying at this weight meant that he needs to compete against fighters that are far taller than him, and that have much longer reach. This made him consider dropping down to 185lbs.
Alexander Volkanovski managed to dominate his first four amateur opponents. Not that he only won against them, but he literally dominated them as the total fighting time in the octagon that he had with all 4 of them doesn’t add up to 3 minutes. Alexander Volkanovski finished his MMA debut fight in just 6 seconds, knocking his opponent with a sharp right hook. The following three were similar, just that they were extended to a maximum of 30 seconds.
The MMA community following these amateur MMA bouts quickly branded him as a freak of nature set for greatness in the sport. After just five fights in MMA, Alexander Volkanovski got his pro MMA fighting license. The start of his professional career was a tough one. Even though he won his first three fights, he felt the pressure of fighting another professional. His greatest test, however, did not come until he fought the best pound-for-pound fighter in Australia, Corey Nelson.
This fight was not an ordinary decision loss. Alexander Volkanovski lost by KO/TKO. And after this fight, nothing was the same. It is like something made him re-examine himself and force him to take steps to make sure this type of loss would never happen again. This was Alexander Volkanovski’s wake-up call.
During the three-round bout, Aleksandar Volkanovski went through total domination and control. Especially when the fight got to the ground. And that is when it clicked. He needed to focus more on his ground game.
Having the natural potential for wrestling and ground fight, Alexander Volkanovski started training Jiu Jitsu for months. He put aside everything else. He focused on what he lacked. A skill of dominating opponents on the ground.
In the beginning, things were difficult. Not from the perspective of training and fighting, but from a financial point. He struggled to the point where his family and friends were convincing him to give up the sport.
He moved a weight division down and got his shot at entering the UFC. His life story, starting from this point on, is more or less known by the UFC audience.
His first bout was against Kasuke Kazuya at the UFC Fight Night 101. He put on a show for everybody. Most certainly, he got Dana White’s attention. This is the period when Alexander Volkanovski fathered his second child.
With a three-member family to feed, Alexander Volkanovski’s only option was to keep fighting and advance on the UFC’s scoreboard. He dreamt of getting his hands on UFC gold, something he would achieve in a couple of years.
His first fight against a ranked fighter would be at the UFC Fight Night 133 event on the 14th of July in 2018. He faced Darren Elkins, a fighter with a professional record of 24-6-0. At the time, Elkins was at a winning streak of 6 fights and was looking to extend it to 7 by any means necessary. However, the Aussie surprised him with his endurance and managed to win by a unanimous decision.
Alexander Volkanovski’s next fight would be against Chad Mendes. A ranked fighter, sitting in 10th place in his division. Everybody considered Alexander Volkanovski the underdog in this fight. However, as always, he managed to prove himself once more, and obtain a win, this time by a KO. UFC fans argue that this win might be Alexander Volkanovski’s best finish in his career. He combined hooks and uppercuts and finished Chad Mendes by a referee stoppage. This bout earned him the ‘Fight of the Night Award’ of $50 000.
Starting from this point, Alexander Volkanovski won over Jose Aldo in Brazil and went on to defeat Max Holloway two times. The first win over Max Hollower got him what he always dreamt of. He became an undefeated UFC Featherweight champion of the world. Since then, Alexander Volkanovski defended his featherweight title 5 times. He won against every fighter on the roster, most recently winning his trilogy bout against Max Holloway.
Recently, the Aussie fighter decided that he wants to take on a new challenge. He will try to make history and take on the newly crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
The Russian obtained the lightweight title recently, after winning against the long-time lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at the UFC 280 in October.
UFC announced on Saturday that Makhachev and Volkanovski will fight on the 12th of February 2023, at the UFC 284 event. It will be the main bout on the fight card.
This means that Alexander Volkanovski will transition to the lightweight division for the first time since 2016. He desires to become a two-division champion and take full advantage of his current condition.
Islam Makhachev however, is in his prime as well. He also comes with a long winning streak and is looking to defend his title for the first time. There is no doubt that their clash will be very difficult to predict. Both fighters are excellent wrestlers, but Alexander Volkanovski might have an edge over Makhachev due to his striking.
The fight planning started post-UFC 280 in October when Islam Makhachev made the public call out to Alexander Volkanovski. The Macedonian accepted the challenge and now faces one of the toughest fights in his career.
“It’s going to be like a David and Goliath because everyone thinks he’s the strongest man on the planet, best grappling anyone has ever seen.” – Alexander Volkanovski said. “The way they’re talking about him — it’s just going to look incredible when I finish the job.”
What do you think? Will Alexander The Great Volkanovski manage to extend his winning streak?