It is rare for any stage that the overlapping phases, the throne changes have been the current level as the status quo of UFC in recent months. In the past, a champion could stand and overwhelm all the remaining boxers of the weight class within three years, then in the last 13 months, almost all the weight classes changed the throne.
The only weight of the stable structure is the Featherweight class, where Alexander Volkanovski dominated. Possessing 16 matches in 145 LBS, Volkanovski maintained the achievement of winning, including 5 successful belt protection matches.
So what is the secret to keeping the championship of “The Great”? Let's follow the journey that Alexander Volkanovski has made, from a Rugby player weighing nearly 100kg to an UFC champion.
Before joining UFC
The father of Alexander Volkanovski is Macedonia's origin, and his mother is Greek – this explains why Volkanovski chose for herself nicknamed “The Great”, adapted to the Emperor Alexander, “Alexander The Great”, Emperor Macedonia with conclusion along two parts of Eurasian – Asian continents.
With innate advocacy, Alexander Volkanovski directed his attention to both sports: Wrestling and Rugby rugby. Volkanovski won the National Young Championship when he was in high school, but later, he left Wrestling to focus on playing Rugby. Volkanovski played in the Front-Rower position of the Warilla Gorillas team, contributing greatly to help this team win the Country Rugby League championship in 2011.
During Rugby, Alexander Volkanovski was quite “heavy”: he was only 1m68 tall, but he was so overly so that the weight of Volkanovski was up to 97kg. Therefore, “The Great” comes to MMA, as a way to reduce fat between seasons.
“Back then I was much bigger than now,” Volkanovski once said on Joe Rogan's podcast. “I want to keep in shape in the preparation phase before the Rugby season, so I started going to MMA. I love MMA since that time.”
While still playing Rugby, Alexander Volkanovski had a few MMA matches on amateur floors, but at that time he did not really bet his future on the martial floor. Rugby, along with the work of a concrete pouring worker, is the priority of “The Great”.
However, by the end, Volkanovski still came to decide to leave Rugby, right after he helped the home team win.
“My team won the championship in the last year I still played rugby,” Volkanovski recounted. “Thanks to that victory, it became a good year to put an end. Anyway, it was a period when there were many things, very stressful. I also had a few amateur MMA matches, while still playing Rugby and still working at the construction site.”
Alexander Volkanovski officially became a professional MMA boxer in 2012, at this time he lost weight to 77kg and played in Lightweight. Volkanovski won the belt at Cage Conquest, Roshambo, Pacific Xtreme Combat; But to receive the first defeat in the career at Australian Fighting Championship.
In summary, the achievement of “The Great” before entering UFC was 13 wins – 1 losses in just 4 years, with a series of 10 matches continuously.
What is the reason why Alexander Volkanovski was successful at UFC?
After the first two impressive victories in the octagon, Volkanovski Thuong Dai and New Zealand Shane Young, who practiced with Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker at the City Kickboxing gym. That match gave him the opportunity to meet coach Eugene Bareman.
Eugene Bareman said he was impressed with what Alexander Volkanovski showed, but also noticed many shortcomings. After many exchanges, Volkanovski came to a big decision – he moved from Australia to New Zealand to practice with the City Kickboxing team.
“In City Kickboxing, I have a lot of benefits from practicing the same oven with the top professional boxers,” Volkanovski said. “Especially when compared to the previous environment – when I was in Australia, I did not have the opportunity to practice with the quality practitioners.”
Moving to the new gym, Alexander Volkanovski has made significant progress, evidenced by two consecutive victories against the legends of weight class, Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo. These two victories also helped Volkanovski have the opportunity to challenge the championship, then owned by Max Holloway.
Max Holloway is not an easy -to -play opponent. Before Volkanovski took the throne, Holloway was a young champion who was in great form, with a series of 14 consecutive victories, including 3 belt protection matches.
However, despite the lower door position with the physical disadvantages, Volkanovski had an impressive match, forcing Max Holloway to take a loss after 5 rounds.
“I do not need to be self -illusory, support that in the future I will become great or anything. What makes me continue to persevere every day is my passion, my mindset about this sport,” “The Great” shared, emphasizing that his secret is not really big.
“The ego is a discipline, perseverance every day to practice, regularly and continuously. With a solid discipline, I will wake up, step into the daily training floor like a machine, without” wiring “spirit for myself a little bit.”
The extraordinary perseverance of Alexander Volkanovski, of course, also brought an extraordinary result.
Since winning the championship at UFC 245, Volkanovski has had 5 belt protection matches, twice among them were fighting against Holloway, once before Brian Ortega, once before “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, once before Yair Rodriguez in July. It can be said that the 145 LBS of Volkanovski was almost wiped out, leaving only a formidable challenge, Ilia Topuria.
In addition, “The Great” also promptly reached 155 LBS against Islam Makhachev. Although Volkanovski lost points, he still expects to have the opportunity to rematch Makhachev in the future.