Alexander the Great: How Great Is He?
For nearly a decade, Alexander Volkanovski, known as The Great, has struck fear into the hearts of mixed martial artists around the globe. The Australian native is among the most successful featherweights of all time and continues to fight at a high level. So, what makes him great? Further, how great is he? Let’s take a quick look.
The Great Almost Never Was — At Least In MMA
Volkanovski was born in New South Wales and grew up training in Greco-Roman wrestling. By the age of 12, he was a two-time national champion wrestler. However, he gave up wrestling to pursue rugby as a teenager. Looking to be a front rower, Vokanovski attended Lake Illawarra High School and struggled to make ends meet as a concreter. He won the Mick Cronin Medal in 2010 while participating in the Group 7 Rugby League, recognized as the best player in that semi-professional league.
While he found great success at that semi-professional level, he couldn’t break through to the extent he wanted. So, he quit rugby at 23 to pursue a career in MMA, which he began training for at 22. While it’s easy to get caught up in his professional accolades, one could argue that his background is the most impressive aspect of his resume. He wrestled as a child, but to spend nearly a decade away from any form of combat sport and not only come back as a 22-year-old but make it to UFC fights is astounding.
Becoming The Great
Just under two years after he began training for MMA, Volkanovski made his debut. He went 4-0 as an amateur middleweight before spending four years fighting in various organizations. Vokanovski made a name for himself in those years, going 11-1 and earning a reputation as a vicious striker. He adapted this style thanks to his background as a Muay Thai fighter. His style adaptation resembles basketball players who hit a growth spurt late. With players like that, they develop shooting and ball-handling skills, only to later add size to their repertoire. This gives them an advantage over other big men, as they can do things that smaller guards can.
Volkanovski began fighting at a heavier weight, utilizing strength and power to compete at that level. As he slimmed down to the featherweight and lightweight divisions, this striking ability became a brutal force dealt to opponents.
Taking Steps to the Next Level
As of 2012, The Great had earned a reputation as a fierce striker and vicious fighter but hadn’t yet caught his big break. That changed in 2016 when he signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and made his promotional debut in November of that same year. With a second-round TKO of Yusuke Kasuya, he extended his winning streak to 11 and announced that he would move from lightweight to featherweight.
This decision changed the trajectory of his career. He won his next six fights, pushing that winning streak to 17, before getting his first shot at the UFC Featherweight Championship. Taking on Max Holloway, Vokanovski took his first championship by unanimous decision. The two fighters met again just under seven months later, where The Great defended his title in a split decision. Volkanovski would defend his title three more times, including another unanimous decision against Holloway, before taking a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship.
UFC Lightweight Championship Bouts
Making the step back up to lightweight, The Great needed to defeat Islam Makhachev. The Russian fighter is one of the most decorated UFC fighters in the sport and entered the fight with a 23-1 record, similar to Vokanovski’s 25-1 record. Unlike Volkanovski, though, Makhachev had never fought under the lightweight classification.
The fight was highly anticipated at UFC 284 as the Fight of the Night. It was just the eighth time in UFC history that champions in different divisions fought for the same title. The fight was a brutal main event, going the full five rounds and exceeding every expectation. Makhachev was the favorite entering the fight and outlasted Volkanovski to take a unanimous decision.
After successfully defending his featherweight title for the fifth time, Vokanovski got a rematch with Makhacev for the lightweight title in October of 2023, again as the Fight of the Night. Unfortunately for Vokanovski, this fight wasn’t as competitive, as Makhachev landed a brutal head kick followed by a swarm of punches, ending in a first-round knockout.
Alexander The Great’s Legacy
Few featherweights have a resume quite like Vokanovski’s, who has a 19-fight winning streak and six championships to his name. He remains the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion and defends his title on January 20, 2024, against 26-year-old Ilia Topuria. He is currently ranked third in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings, and his losses to Makhacev are the only significant blemishes to his legacy. He is 35 and looks to be at the backend of his career, but if he can win a few more featherweight belts, his legacy will only continue to grow.
