Alexander Volkanovski (born 29 September 1988) is an Australian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. He currently competes in the

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC), where he is the current and two-time

UFC Featherweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight clas ...

. Volkanovski is the second Australian to win a UFC title after Robert Whittaker. He is also a former

Australian Fighting Championship Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation based in Melbourne. In 2013, AFC was described as Australia's leading MMA organisation by MMA Kanvas and was part of Sherdog's list of top 50 global ...

(AFC) Featherweight champion. Prior to his UFC debut, Volkanovski competed as a professional boxer in 2015. As of 13 May 2025, he is #7 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings. He is considered one of the greatest Featherweights of all time.

Background

Volkanovski was born on 29 September 1988, in

Wollongong, New South Wales Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

. His father was born in the village of

Beranci Beranci () is a village in the Municipalities of North Macedonia, municipality of Mogila Municipality, Mogila, North Macedonia. Etymology The village is first mentioned as Beranci in 1468, in Ottoman documents. It is believed that the name deriv ...

in Yugoslavia,

SR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

(now

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

) while his mother is from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Alex began training in

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

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 Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

as a front rower. Volkanovski attended

Lake Illawarra High School Lake Illawarra High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located on Reddall Parade, which follows the shores of Lake Illawarra, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Established in ...

throughout his teenage years and worked as a concreter after graduation. He played

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

rugby league for the Warilla Gorillas in the

Group 7 Rugby League South Coast Group 7 Rugby League (or Group 7 Rugby League for simplicity) is the divisional boundary drawn from the Southern Illawarra and South Coast regions (from the suburb of Warilla south to Ulladulla) of New South Wales, Australia and is ...

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 In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award for his performance in his team's

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

victory over

Gerringong Gerringong () is a town located about ten minutes drive south of Kiama, New South Wales, Kiama, and about twenty minutes north of Nowra, New South Wales, Nowra in the Illawarra, New South Wales, Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia in ...

. Volkanovski then decided to quit rugby league at 23 years of age to pursue a professional career in

Mixed Martial Arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

in the latter half of 2011. He claims to have watched

events since childhood and would often rent UFC

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

tapes from Blockbuster as well as purchase UFC

pay per view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

s from 14 years of age. Coach Joe Lopez said Volkanovski started training in MMA at the age of 22 and

to keep fit during the rugby league off season, where he weighed . 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. Volkanovski is based at Freestyle Fighting Gym in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

but regularly completes training camps at

Tiger Muay Thai Tiger Muay Thai is a Thai mixed martial arts and muay thai training facility located in Phuket, Thailand. It has several prominent competitors such as UFC champions Petr Yan, Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko. History American vet ...

and Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA in

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

and City Kickboxing in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

with fellow UFC fighters, former UFC Middleweight Champion

Israel Adesanya Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya (born 22 July 1989) is a Nigerian-New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, former kickboxer and boxer. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight di ...

Dan Hooker Daniel Preston Hooker (born 13 February 1990) is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Hooker was the King in the Ring ...

and

Kai Kara-France James Kaiwhare "Kai" Kara-France (born 26 March 1993) is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of 5 December 2023, he is #4 in the UFC f ...

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

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Starting as an amateur at middleweight and going 4–0 before turning professional, Volkanovski has fought in various MMA organizations in the

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

region in Asia from 2012 to July 2016 before signing with the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

. He won a Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC) title and two

(AFC) Featherweight titles. Volkanovski amassed a record of 13–1 with 10 straight wins prior to joining the

Ultimate Fighting Championship

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 ''UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 101'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 27, 2016, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Background Thi ...

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

Move down to Featherweight

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 is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of the Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional competitor since 2005, he appeared in the Japanese MMA event Dynamite!! 2009 event and has also competed for Ul ...

on 11 June 2017 at

UFC Fight Night 110 ''UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Hunt'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 110'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on 11 June 2017 at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. Background The event was ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision after almost finishing Hirota following a knockdown. Volkanovski was expected to face

Jeremy Kennedy Jeremy Michael Fitz-Kennedy (born September 16, 1992) is a Canadians, Canadian mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. In addition to competing for Bellator, Kennedy has also c ...

at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura on 19 November 2017, in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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

Humberto Bandenay Humberto Bandenay (born September 4, 1994) is a Peruvian mixed martial artist (MMA) who is best known for competing in the Featherweight division in the UFC. Mixed martial arts career Early career Bandenay started his professional MMA career i ...

. 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 Shane Young (born 31 July 1993) is a New Zealand mixed martial artist (MMA) who competes in the Featherweight division and previously competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Young was born in Napier, New Zealand, an ...

. 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 ''UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on February 11, 2018, at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. Background While the UFC has hosted 11 previous events across t ...

. He won the fight via technical knockout. Volkanovski faced

Darren Elkins Darren Elkins (born May 16, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he fights in the Featherweight division. Background Elkins was born in Hobart, Indiana and competed four y ...

on 14 July 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 133 ''UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Ivanov'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 133'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on July 14, 2018 at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho, United States. ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Volkanovski faced

Chad Mendes Chad Eduardo Mendes (born May 1, 1985)Archived
from th ...

on 29 December 2018 at

UFC 232 ''UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on December 29, 2018, at The Forum (Inglewood, California), The Forum in Inglewood, California. Background A UFC Ligh ...

. He won the fight via technical knockout in round two after surviving two knockdowns himself. This fight earned him the ''Fight of the Night'' award. Volkanovski faced former featherweight champion

José Aldo José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior (; born 9 September 1986), known as José Aldo, is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist and professional boxer who competed in the Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions of the Ultimate F ...

UFC 237 ''UFC 237: Namajunas vs. Andrade'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on May 11, 2019, at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was originally expected to be held ...

on 11 May 2019. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

UFC Featherweight Champion

Volkanovski vs. Holloway

Volkanovski faced

Max Holloway Jerome Max Keli'i Holloway (born December 4, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight and Lightweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Fea ...

on 14 December 2019, for the

UFC Featherweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

UFC 245 ''UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 14, 2019, at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. B ...

. Volkanovski won the fight via unanimous decision.

Volkanovski vs. Holloway 2

Volkanovski made his first title defense in a rematch against

on 11 July 2020 at

UFC 251 ''UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 12, 2020 at the Yas Island#du Arena and Forum, du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was o ...

. He won the fight via split decision. This outcome was controversial amongst media outlets, with 18 out of 27 media scores giving it to Holloway, mixed martial arts personalities such as UFC president

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

, former referee and creator of the rules system

John McCarthy John McCarthy may refer to: Government * John George MacCarthy (1829–1892), Member of Parliament for Mallow constituency, 1874–1880 * John McCarthy (Irish politician) (1862–1893), Member of Parliament for the Mid Tipperary constituency, ...

, and multiple mixed martial artists.

Volkanovski vs. Ortega

Volkanovski was scheduled to make his second title defense against

Brian Ortega Brian Martin Ortega (born February 21, 1991) is an American professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professiona ...

on 27 March 2021 at

UFC 260 ''UFC 260: Miocic vs. Ngannou 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 27, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United Sta ...

. However, the fight was canceled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

protocols. Volkanovski later

tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...

that he tested positive for COVID-19. On 2 April 2021, it was announced that

and Volkanovski would be the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 29 at

ESPN+ ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communicati ...

and the show featured bantamweight and middleweight contestants. Volkanovski faced

on 25 September 2021, at

UFC 266 ''UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 25, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United S ...

for the

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Volkanovski received universal praise for escaping multiple submission attempts and persevering. This fight earned him the '' Fight of the Night'' award.

Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie

Volkanovski was scheduled to face

for a third time on 5 March 2022, at

UFC 272 ''UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 5, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ...

. However, a day after the announcement, Holloway was forced to pull from the event due to injury. Holloway was replaced by

Chan Sung Jung Jung Chan-sung (; born March 17, 1987), anglicized as Chan Sung Jung and better known by his ring name The Korean Zombie, is a South Korean former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Figh ...

and the title bout was moved to

UFC 273 ''UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 9, 2022, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Backgroun ...

on 9 April 2022. After knocking Jung down multiple times, Volkanovski won the fight via TKO in the fourth round. The win earned him the ''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' award. The fight also earned him second place in the Crypto.com ''"Fan Bonus of the Night"'' award.

Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3

The trilogy bout against Holloway was rescheduled at UFC 276 on 2 July 2022. Volkanovski won the bout via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 50–45. This win earned him the

Crypto.com Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Singapore that offers various financial services, including an app, exchange, and noncustodial DeFi wallet, NFT marketplace, and direct payment service in cryptocurrency. As of June 2023, ...

''Fan Bonus of the Night'' second-place award, which paid the

bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...

equivalent of US$20,000.

Volkanovski vs. Makhachev

Volkanovski moved up a weight class to challenge

Islam Makhachev Islam Ramazanovich Makhachev (; born 27 October 1991) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and former sambo competitor. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the cu ...

for the

UFC Lightweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight class ...

on 12 February 2023 at

UFC 284 ''UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2023, at Perth Arena, RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Background The event marked the promotion's ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the '' Fight of the Night'' award.

Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez

Volkanovski returned to featherweight and faced interim featherweight champion

Yair Rodríguez Yair Raziel Rodríguez Portillo (born October 6, 1992) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Featherweig ...

in a title unification bout for the

on 8 July 2023 at UFC 290. He won the fight via TKO in round three.

Volkanovski vs. Makhachev 2

Volkanovski was next scheduled to face

Ilia Topuria Ilia Topuria ( ka, ილია თოფურია; born January 21, 1997) is a Georgian and Spanish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he i ...

on 20 January 2024 to defend his

UFC 297 ''UFC 297: Strickland vs. du Plessis'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 20, 2024, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background The event marked the promotion' ...

. However, before that bout took place, Volkanovski was tapped to step in on 10 days notice to face

UFC Lightweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight class ...

in a rematch, on 21 October 2023, at UFC 294, as a replacement for an injured

Charles Oliveira Charles Oliveira da Silva (born October 17, 1989) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and fourth degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Oliveira currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting ...

. He lost the fight via head kick knockout in round one.

Volkanovski vs. Topuria

Following the short notice rematch with Makhachev, the bout with

was initially expected to continue forward and take place on its original date of 20 January 2024 at

. However, it was later pushed back one month to headline

UFC 298 ''UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 17, 2024, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. Background The event marked the p ...

on 17 February 2024 instead. Volkanovski lost the championship by knockout in the second round.

Volkanovski vs. Lopes

With Topuria vacating the title, Volkanovski faced

Diego Lopes Diego Lopes may refer to: *Diego Lopes (footballer) (born 1994), Brazilian footballer *Diego Lopes (fighter) Diego Lopes da Silva (born 30 December 1994) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Featherw ...

for the vacant

on 12 April 2025 at

UFC 314 ''UFC 314: Volkanovski vs. Lopes'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 12, 2025, at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, United States. Background The event marked the promotion' ...

. He won the fight by unanimous decision. This fight earned him another '' Fight of the Night'' award.

Professional boxing career

Volkanovski has a single boxing bout, which was a

Super welterweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF o ...

bout he won by unanimous decision in four rounds against Dillon Bargero.

Personal life

Volkanovski married his wife Emma on 12 October 2012; they have three daughters and as of March 2025, they are expecting a fourth daughter. His eldest daughter Ariana was born in 2015; his second daughter Arlie was born in 2017, and his third daughter Reign was born in 2023. He appeared as a coach in Malaysia Invasion, an amateur

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

reality show. Because of his paternal

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

and maternal

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

heritage, he uses the nickname "The Great" in reference to

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, claiming that he had "a Macedonian father and a Greek mother", similar to himself. Volkanovski has his own YouTube channel.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

(Two times, Current) *** Five successful title defenses (first reign) *** Second most title fight wins in UFC Featherweight division history (7) *** First Australian-born fighter to win a UFC championship ** Fight of the Night (Four times) **

(One time) ** Second longest win streak in UFC Featherweight division history (11) ** Highest striking differential in UFC Featherweight division history (3.09) ** Longest average fight time in UFC Featherweight division history (17:31) ** Third most significant strikes landed in UFC Featherweight division history (1525) ** Fourth most total strikes landed in UFC Featherweight division history (1726) **Third highest significant strike percentage in UFC Featherweight division history (56.5%) **Fourth most strikes landed per minute in UFC Featherweight division history (6.69) ** Most leg kicks landed in a fight in UFC Featherweight division history (75 vs

1) ***Second most leg kicks landed in a fight in UFC Featherweight division history (67 vs

2) ** Most total leg strikes landed in a fight in UFC Featherweight division history (81 vs Jose Aldo) *** Second most total leg strikes landed in a fight in UFC Featherweight division history (75 vs

1) *** Third most total leg strikes landed in a fight in UFC Featherweight division history (67 vs

2) ** UFC Men's Pound-For-Pound No. 1 in 2022 & 2023 **UFC Honors Awards *** 2021: President's Choice Fight of the Year Nominee *** 2023: President's Choice Fight of the Year Winner 1 **UFC.com Awards ***2019: Top 10 Fighter of the Year ***2021: Ranked #2 Fight of the Year ***2022: Fighter of the Year ***2023:

Fight of the Year Fight of the Year is an award given to the boxing match considered to be the best fight that year. It is awarded by a variety of different institutions. It may refer to: * ''The Ring'' magazine Fight of the Year – awarded by ''The Ring'' magazi ...

vs.

1 *

** ''Fan Bonus of the Night'' *

Featherweight Champion (one time; former) *** One successful title defense * Cage Conquest ** Cage Conquest Welterweight Champion * Pacific Xtreme Combat ** PXC Featherweight Champion * Roshambo MMA ** Roshambo MMA Lightweight Champion ** Roshambo MMA Welterweight Champion * Wollongong Wars ** Wollongong Wars Lightweight Champion * CombatPress.com ** 2019 Breakout Fighter of the Year *

World MMA Awards The World MMA Awards are awards presented by ''Fighters Only'' magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the ''Fighters Only silver statuette''. The World MMA Awards are divided ...

** 2019 – July 2020

Upset of the Year ''The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and has since named an Upset of the Year since 1970. The award, based on the magazine's writers' criteria, is given to a fight that resulted in an outcome that was highly contrary to general expectati ...

vs.

** 2022 Charles 'Mask' Lewis Fighter of the Year ** 2022 International Fighter of the Year **2023 Fight of the Year vs.

MMAjunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and has been owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time'' magazine, ''ESPN The Magazine'', ''Th ...

** 2021 September Fight of the Month vs.

**2023 Fight of the Year vs.

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

** 2021 Fight of the Year vs.

**2023 Fight of the Year vs.

* MMA Mania ** 2021 Fight of the Year vs.

* MMA Sucka ** 2021 Fight of the Year vs.

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

** 2022 Fighter of the Year * Cageside Press ** 2022 Fighter of the Year **2023 Fight of the Year vs.

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

** 2023 Fight of the Year *MMA Fighting **2023 Fight of the Year vs.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

** Most Outstanding Fighter of the Year (2022) ** 2023 MMA Match of the Year

Amateur wrestling

* Australian National Schools Wrestling Competition ** Gold medal - 12/13 yrs 62 kg (2001)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 27–4 ,

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Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

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Jung Chan-sung Jung Chan-sung (; born March 17, 1987), anglicized as Chan Sung Jung and better known by his ring name The Korean Zombie, is a South Korean former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Figh ...

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Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

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Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

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Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

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Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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Jamie Mullarkey Jamie Mullarkey (born 17 August 1994) is an Australian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Mullarkey grew up in Central Coast area, attending Erina High School. He ...

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Mangilao Mangilao is a village on the eastern shore of the United States territory of Guam. The village's population has decreased slightly since the island's 2010 census. Cliffs lie along much of the village's shoreline provide dramatic views, including ...

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Thirroul Thirroul () is a northern seaside suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Wollongong, Australia. Situated between Austinmer, New South Wales, Austinmer and Bulli, New South Wales, Bulli, it is approximately 13 kilometres north of Wo ...

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Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Rodolfo Marques Diniz , KO (punch) , Australian FC 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:41 ,

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

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, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Luke Catubig , TKO (punches) , Australian FC 7 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:39 ,

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , Corey Nelson , TKO (head kick and punches) , Australian FC 5 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:13 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Anton Zafir , TKO (punches) , Roshambo MMA 1 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 2:19 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Regan Wilson , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Southern Fight Promotions: Cage Conquest 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:49 ,

Nowra Nowra () is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated po ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Gerhard Voigt , Decision (unanimous) , Revolution Promotions: Revolution at the Roxy , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Australia ,

Professional boxing record

Pay-per-view bouts

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Volkanovski, Alexander 1988 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian male boxers Australian male kickboxers Australian male mixed martial artists Australian male sport wrestlers Australian people of Greek descent Australian people of Macedonian descent Australian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Australian rugby league players Featherweight mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Rugby league players from Wollongong Sportsmen from New South Wales Sportspeople from Wollongong Sportspeople of Greek descent Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Welterweight mixed martial artists

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Move down to Featherweight

UFC Featherweight Champion

Volkanovski vs. Holloway

Volkanovski vs. Holloway 2

Volkanovski vs. Ortega

Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie

Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3

Volkanovski vs. Makhachev

Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez

Volkanovski vs. Makhachev 2

Volkanovski vs. Topuria

Volkanovski vs. Lopes

Professional boxing career

Personal life

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Amateur wrestling

Mixed martial arts record

Professional boxing record

Pay-per-view bouts

See also

References

External links