Biography(references)Volkanovski attended Lake Illawarra High School throughout his teenage years and worked as a concreter after graduation. He also played a crucial role in Warilla's 2011 Premiership winning season and received the Man of the Match award for his performance in his team's Grand Final victory over Gerringong. Volkanovski then decided to quit rugby league at 23 years of age to pursue a professional career in Mixed Martial Arts in the latter half of 2011. Coach Joe Lopez said Volkanovski started training in MMA at the age of 22 and Greco-Roman wrestling to keep fit during the rugby league off season, where he weighed 97 kg . Volkanovski is based at Freestyle Fighting Gym in Wollongong but regularly completes training camps at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket and City Kickboxing in Auckland with fellow UFC fighters, current UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya, Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France.
Fighter Trivia(references)Volkanovski is married to Emma and he has two daughters, Ariana and Airlie. He appeared as a coach in Malaysia Invasion, an amateur MMA reality show. Because of his paternal Macedonian and maternal Greek heritage, he uses the nickname "The Great" in reference to Alexander the Great, claiming that he had "a Macedonian father and a Greek mother", similar to himself.
Awards & Accolades
UFC: UFC Featherweight Championship (One time, current). Four successful title defenses
UFC: Four successful title defenses
UFC: Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Chad Mendes and Brian Ortega
UFC: Performance of the Night (One time) vs. Chan Sung Jung
UFC: Tied (Arnold Allen) for the second longest win streak in UFC Featherweight division history (10)
UFC: UFC Men's Pound-For-Pound No. 1
UFC: Four successful title defenses
Crypto.com: Fan Bonus of the Night vs. Chan Sung Jung
Australian Fighting Championship: Australian Fighting Championship Featherweight Champion (one time; former). One successful title defense
Australian Fighting Championship: One successful title defense
Australian Fighting Championship: One successful title defense
CombatPress.com: 2019 Breakout Fighter of the Year
World MMA Awards: 2019 – July 2020 Upset of the Year vs. Max Holloway
MMAjunkie.com: 2021 September Fight of the Month vs. Brian Ortega
ESPN: 2021 Fight of the Year vs. Brian Ortega
MMA Mania: 2021 Fight of the Year vs. Brian Ortega
MMA Sucka: 2021 Fight of the Year vs. Brian Ortega
: Gold medal - 12/13 yrs 62 kg (2001)
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