Alexander Volkanovski: the Illawarra’s two-time UFC featherweight champion | Ultimate Fighter Reunion

Why fans still care

ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI came to MMA late, from rugby league and a concreting job, and became the UFC featherweight champion. He beat Max Holloway, Who’s Who number 3 three times. After losing his title in 2024 he won it back at 36 and has kept defending it.

Early life

He was born on 29 September 1988 and grew up in the Illawarra, south of Sydney. As a teenager he won a national wrestling championship, then gave wrestling away for rugby league. He played first grade as a prop for the Warilla Gorillas and won a Mick Cronin Medal. “I was a 97 kilogram front-rower,” he told UFC.com. He also worked as a concreter.

Getting started

In 2011 he walked into Freestyle Fighting Gym in Windang. Coach Joe Lopez watched him spar and submit an opponent inside a minute, and asked whether he wanted to compete. Lopez remembered thinking, “wow this kid’s got something”. Volkanovski made his professional debut in May 2012.

Career chapters

1. 2011First class at Freestyle Fighting Gym
2. 2012Professional debut
3. 2015Wins the AFC and PXC featherweight titles
4. 2016UFC debut in Melbourne
5. 2019Beats José Aldo, Who’s Who number 38, then takes the featherweight title from Max Holloway, Who’s Who number 3
6. 2022Stops Chan Sung Jung and beats Holloway a third time
7. 2023Two lightweight title fights with Islam Makhachev
8. 2024Loses the featherweight title to Ilia Topuria
9. 2025Wins the title back against Diego Lopes
10. 2026Defends against Lopes and Movsar Evloev

Regional years 2012 to 2016

He went 13 and 1 before the UFC, picking up regional belts at several weights. In 2015 he won the AFC featherweight title and then the PXC featherweight title.

Into the UFC 2016 to 2019

His UFC debut came in Melbourne in November 2016, a second-round TKO of Yusuke Kasuya. He kept winning, stopped Chad Mendes at UFC 232, and in May 2019 in Rio de Janeiro beat José Aldo on a unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards.

Champion 2019 to 2024

On 14 December 2019 at UFC 245 in Las Vegas he beat Max Holloway, Who’s Who number 3 on a unanimous decision to win the featherweight title. “We shoot for the belt,” he said. He beat Holloway again in 2020, then Brian Ortega, then stopped Chan Sung Jung in the fourth round in 2022, then beat Holloway a third time. In 2023 he moved up to fight lightweight champion Islam Makhachev twice. He lost a decision in Perth, and later that year, taking the rematch on short notice, he was knocked out in the first round. In between he stopped Yair Rodríguez to unify the featherweight title. In February 2024 he lost the title to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298.

Second reign 2025 to now

On 12 April 2025 in Miami he beat Diego Lopes on a unanimous decision to become champion again. He beat Lopes a second time in Sydney in February 2026. On 24 October 2026 at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi he stopped the previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev in the second round. Afterwards he said he wants to keep fighting.

Outside the cage

He plays Joe in the 2026 Street Fighter film, a cameo.

Style, technique and the corner

How he fights

He fights orthodox, applying pressure and countering, with quick in-and-out footwork and a pace he can hold for five rounds. UFC.com lists the overhand right as his trademark. Sherdog’s 2023 scouting report named the one-two as his favourite combination and noted his fast calf and leg kicks.

Teams and gyms

Joe Lopez at Freestyle Fighting Gym in Windang has been his head coach since 2011. He has also trained at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand and held camps at City Kickboxing in Auckland, the gym Israel Adesanya, Who’s Who number 23 fights out of. Eugene Bareman was in his corner for the Aldo fight.

Stories people still tell

1. Inside a minute.

   Lopez decided he had something special after one sparring session.

2. Three for three.

   He beat Max Holloway, Who’s Who number 3 in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

3. Back on top.

   He lost the belt in 2024 and won it back the next year.

Legacy

He is a two-time UFC featherweight champion and the first Australian-born UFC champion, and was named 2022 Fighter of the Year by UFC.com and the World MMA Awards. He has won 16 of his 19 UFC fights.