Bilal Hasan cites a "curse" that MMA great Alexander Volkanovski broke at UFC 333

Alexander Volkanovski has elicited considerable praise with his win at UFC 333.

Yet another prominent fighter, namely UFC flyweight Bilal Hasan, has now lauded him. Additionally, Hasan suggested that Volkanovski broke an oft-discussed curse that some believe affects professional combat sportspersons. 

Alexander Volkanovski broke the supposed movie curse affecting fighters

A prominent hypothesis, which some label as nothing more than a superstition, is that a fighter who features in an acting role in a movie generally ends up losing in their next professional combat sports contest. It's colloquially referred to as the movie curse or the fighter movie curse. 

On that note, MMA legend Alexander Volkanovski recently essayed the role of "Joe" in the 2026 Hollywood movie, "Street Fighter." The highly anticipated film was released earlier this month, followed by Volkanovski's high-profile MMA fight against Movsar Evloev. 

"Volk" notched yet another successful defense of his UFC featherweight championship, as he defeated the then-unbeaten Evloev via second-round TKO in the headlining match of UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on October 24. It led some observers to cite that the Australian thereby became one of the rare fighters to break the movie curse. 

Bilal Hasan lauds Alexander Volkanovski for overcoming the movie curse by beating Movsar Evloev at UFC 333

During a recent conversation with Helen Yee on Helen Yee Sports, the Washington-based Bilal Hasan, who represents the nation of Indonesia, addressed multiple topics. "The IndoNinja" indicated that he watched the "Street Fighter" movie, lauding Alexander Volkanovski for his acting prowess displayed in it. 

A fan of American music icon Michael Jackson, Hasan implied that he'd love to star in a movie related to "MJ." He lightheartedly opined that it might be asking for too much and he wouldn't want to overstep at this point in his young career, but it'd be amazing if he'd receive an invitation to the premiere of the expected sequel to the 2026 Hollywood movie "Michael" in the future. 

Furthermore, Hasan praised Volkanovski for breaking the so-called fighter movie curse, stating: 

"(Alexander Volkanovski) doing that to Movsar (Evloev). Wow! I'm so happy for 'Volk.' I actually just watched 'Street Fighter,' too... It's a great movie. Shout out to 'Volk.' He did a great job; good acting." 

Hasan continued, "But yeah, and then, to go out there and do that. I think he broke the movie curse as well. You hear all these athletes -- they go, they do a movie, and then they lose. So 'Volk,' you know, he defeated that curse, and I wanna do that as well. I wanna be in a movie one day and then fight, too. That'd be sick." 

Hasan is currently booked to take on Luis Gurule in a flyweight clash at UFC 334 at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 14. 

On the other hand, reigning UFC featherweight kingpin Volkanovski has asserted that he'd like to face UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje for the latter's title next, or face Arman Tsarukyan for the vacant lightweight belt if Gaethje retires. The Aussie combatant is even willing to vacate his featherweight belt for it. 

Alternatively, Volkanovski has signaled that ex-UFC bantamweight champion and current featherweight fighter Aljamain Sterling deserves a shot at featherweight gold.

That said, he's also acknowledged that Sterling is set to take on Kevin Vallejos at UFC Qatar on November 21, the winner of which could face him (Volkanovski) for the featherweight throne. 

Watch Bilal Hasan discuss Alexander Volkanovski breaking the supposed fighter movie curse below (*comments at the 4:05-minute mark of the video):