At one point in time, Alexander Volkanovski was on top of the world in more ways than one. Near the end of 2023, his legacy as an all-time great in the sport had firmly been cemented after defending his featherweight strap against Yair Rodríguez, making it the fifth consecutive time he had retained his belt.
Alexander Volkanovski Goes Down in Defeat In UFC 284
He also put on one of the greatest performances of his life versus the reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 in his native Australia. The bout ended up going to the judges’ scorecards, where “The Great” suffered his first loss in almost ten years by unanimous decision, but not before almost finishing the Russian in the waning seconds of the fight.
Sadly, that October, Alexander Volkanovski accepted a rematch against Islam Makhachev on 11 days’ notice UFC 294, where the 145-lb standard was dominantly finished in the very first round via a highlight reel head kick. He then returned to his own division four months later to defend his own belt against the streaking Ilia Topuria at UFC 298.
Unfortunately, despite taking the first round on the cards, Volkanovski found himself on the receiving end of a massive right hook from Topuria, collapsing to the ground lifelessly in his first defeat at featherweight ever.
Alexander Volkanovski Gives Pointers to New Fighters Starting Out Careers
While his results in the cage have begun to dwindle in the seemingly twilight years of his mixed martial arts career, Volkanovski has encountered a major amount of success as a content creator on YouTube in between his UFC appearances.
With a staggering subscriber count of 538,000, his channel stands as one of the largest in the entire MMA community when it comes to fighters.
Recently, Alexander Volkanovski released an end-of-the-year Q&A, where he answered the top questions asked by his fans. One of these questions just happened to be “What would you say to an 18-year old starting his amateur career?”
“Well, I started when I was 22, so you’re never too old”, Alexander Volkanovski began. “As I stated earlier on, if you really want to take it seriously, if you want to be the best, if you want to go somewhere, just do what everyone else isn’t willing to do. And that’s putting in that extra work, sacrifices.”
“When you do go in there, you get in the repetitions, you’re winning fights, get straight back in the gym getting better. Don’t just sit there and be like ‘Cool, things are going good, I can chill here,’ no, you want to be the best, it’s a full-time commitment. That beats talent every single time,” said Volkanovski.
“You get a lot of guys who can only get so far with their talent. You want to be there late, you want to be the best in the world at any sport, or successful at anything in life? That’s the guys that are more willing to do more than the others.”
These words of advice completely spell out the illustrious career that Alexander Volkanovski has had in the sport. Although he may have been in his mid 30’s during the height of his championship reign, as well as the shorter man in most of his UFC bouts, “The Great” fully dedicated himself to his training and preparation.
This unyielding devotion to perfecting his craft allowed him to remain at the top of the 145-lb division for more than four years, and even brought him to the precipice of a second belt at lightweight.
Where Does Alexander Volkanovski Go in 2025?
Although he may have lost his title in horrifying fashion to the undefeated Topuria, Volkanovski still stands as one of the greatest active competitors on the roster. Having held his belt with three wins over Max Holloway, and after filling in on short notice against Makhachev, pundits and fans believe the former featherweight king is more than entitled to a rematch with “El Matador.”
Should Volkanovski get his wish to win back his title, the Spaniard will undoubtedly be a heavy favorite to defend, and should he manage to starch “The Great” once more, it could mean the end of Volkanovski’s career. However, the odds have never stopped the Aussie from going out and putting everything he has into his fights, and fans shouldn’t be all too surprised if Volkanovski can get it done against the seemingly invincible Topuria.
