It's hard to believe that fighting was once just a way for Alex Volkanovski to keep fit during his days as a 214lb rugby league player.
UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski makes the third defence of his title tonight when he fights The Korean Zombie at UFC 273. The Australian's rise through the UFC has been nothing short of remarkable as he remains unbeaten in the promotion.
The Australian is the No.3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC and has one of the most diverse skillsets of any champion in the promotion. A fight with Zombie is a chance for Volkanovski to add another MMA legend to his win list, but first let's look at how the 33-year-old got to this position...
Early life
Volkanovski was born to a Macedonian father and Greek mother, which is why he would later adopt the nickname 'Alexander The Great' for his fighting career in reference ancient Greek king.
His introduction to sport was atypical in Australia as he found a passion for wrestling instead of the country's national sport, rugby. As a teenager, he won a National Schools Wrestling Competition, but would later give up on wrestling to focus on rugby league.
After finishing school, Volkanovski worked as a concreter and continued to play rugby league. He was a front-rower for semi-professional side Warilla Gorillas and played an integral role in their 2011 Premiership title win, receiving a man of the match award in their final game of the season.
Towards the end of his rugby league career, Volkanovski started to dabble in MMA training as he told Joe Rogan's podcast : "I started MMA training just to keep fit while I was playing rugby league, that's when I was 214lbs. I'm 5'6" on a good day. I was a lot bigger and I wanted to stay fit during the pre-season, so that's why I went and started. I've loved it ever since."
Ditching rugby league
Volkanovski decided to finish his rugby league days on a high and called it quits after winning the league title with the Warilla Gorilla. "My last year of rugby league, we won the competition and it was a good year to finish on," he continued. "I had a couple of fights whilst I was playing rugby league and was still concreting, there was a lot happening. It was pretty full-on.
The strenuous routine of rugby, fighting and concreting was catching up Volkanovski so he decided to put all his focus on MMA. He shredded off thirty pounds and competed at middleweight as he got four amateur fights under his belt before turning professional.
Volkanovski competed on regional MMA shows at 170-pounds when he turned professional in 2012. He won titles in the promotions Cage Conquest and Roshambo, but suffered the first and only loss of his career in Australian promotion AFC.
He continued to lose weight during his early days as a professional and competed consistently at 145-pounds from 2014 onwards. After putting together a 10-fight winning streak and winning more regional titles, it's unsurprising that the UFC came knocking in 2016.
Who wins this Saturday - Alex Volkanovski or The Korean Zombie? Let us know in the comments section below
UFC introduction
After winning his first two UFC fights in impressive fashion, Volkanovski struck gold after his third win in the promotion against New Zealander Shane Young. In the corner of Young was City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman, who would soon become Volkanovski's head coach.
Bareman was impressed by the skills of Volkanovski and the fighter later committed the cardinal sin of moving from Australia to New Zealand. The City Kickboxing gym was already home to several talented professionals such as Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker, both of whom helped improve Volkanovski's skills.
"Training with full-time fighters really helps, back home I can't really get that on a daily basis. City Kickboxing has that with very high level fighters, so it's just an unreal thing we've got going here," Volkanovski said.
Volkanovski rose to new heights in his fighting career with the help of City Kickboxing. 'The Great' won fights against featherweight legends in Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo to set up the first UFC title shot of his career.
Winning UFC title
Standing in the way of Volkanovski's title hopes was Max Holloway. The featherweight champion joined the UFC as a 21-year-old and was on a 14-fight unbeaten run at 145-pounds heading into his fourth title defence against Volkanovski at UFC 245 in 2019.
Holloway had a five-inch height advantage over Volkanovski, but the Australian's gameplan worked exceptionally as he found a way to work inside against the champion. After a close five rounds, Volkanovski won a unanimous decision and was a UFC champion after less than a decade of MMA training.
Volkanovski has since defended his belt twice, edging past Holloway again in a rematch and fending off talented grappler Brian Ortega last September. The 33-year-old was scheduled to face Holloway for the third time at UFC 273 this Saturday, but an injury meant Zombie replaced him at the event.
Zombie is challenging for a UFC title for the first time in nine years after coming up short to Aldo in 2013. The 35-year-old is a huge underdog against the champion Volkanovski, but the Australian will know not to count the crafty veteran out.
