Alexander Volkanovski

Alexander 'The Great' Volkanovski is a professional MMA fighter from Australia and is a former UFC Featherweight Champion. He is ranked #11 in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings as of April 3, 2025. Volkanovski holds an impressive professional MMA record of 26 wins and four losses as of this date (26-4-0).

Early Life and Career

Alexander Volkanovski began training in Greco-Roman wrestling at an early age and won a national title at age 12. He would leave Greco-Roman wrestling and pursue rugby throughout his high school and college years before starting his MMA training. He would quit rugby at age 23 to pursue a professional MMA career in late 2011.

Volkanovski had an amateur record of 4-0 before he went professional. He would make his professional debut in 2012 at Revolution Promotions, which he won via unanimous decision. Volkonovski would fight in the Oceania regional circuit and get a record of 13-1 and become the AFC Featherweight, PXC Featherweight, Wollongong Wars Lightweight, Roshambo MMA Lightweight, and Cage Conquest Welterweight Champion in the process.

Alexander Volkanovski's Personal Life

Alexander Volkanovski was born in Wollongong, New South Wales. His father hails from the village of Beranci in Yugoslavia (now North Macedonia), while his mother is of Greek descent. He is married to his longtime girlfriend, Emma Valkanovski, and they are proud parents of three daughters.

Alexander Volkanovski's Wife

Emma Volkanovski is the wife of Alexander Volkanovski. The couple has been happily married for nearly a decade. Emma, a fitness enthusiast, compliments his training. They have three daughters named Ariana, Airlie, and Reign.

Alexander Volkanovski's Kids

Alexander and Emma Volkanovski are proud parents to three daughters, Ariana, Airlie, and Reign, who was born in 2023.

Alexander Volkanovski's Social Media

Alexander Volkanovski has social media accounts on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter). Volkanovski’s Instagram page is filled with posts of his training montages, fight promotions, physique updates, sponsorship endorsements, and family. He boasts an impressive follower count of over 2 million on Instagram and has 564.6K followers on X.

Alexander Volkanovski's Record

Alexander Volkanovski holds a professional MMA record of 26 wins and four losses (26-4-0) as of April 3, 2025. His victories include 13 knockouts, 3 submissions, and 10 decisions. Volkanovski's losses in the UFC were twice against Islam Makhachev and once against Ilia Topuria.

Alexander Volkanovski's UFC Career

Alexander Volkanovski made his UFC debut in 2016 at UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson. He won his first match in the company and kicked off his career with a win. Volkanovski would go on to establish a multiple-fight win streak in the UFC and score victories over MMA veterans Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo before earning a title shot at the UFC featherweight title against Max Holloway.

The 36-year-old Aussie fought Holloway at UFC 245 and walked away with the title after defeating Holloway on the judges' scorecard. He would defend the title against Holloway at UFC 251 after a close fight by a split decision.

Volkanovski defended his title for the second time against Brian Ortega at UFC 266. The Champion dominated the fight and won via unanimous decision to extend his UFC win streak to 10 wins.

Alexander Volkanovski faced Max Holloway for a third time at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022, after Holloway pulled out of their scheduled UFC 272 bout due to injury. Their trilogy concluded with Volkanovski winning via unanimous decision.

Moving up to lightweight, Volkanovski challenged Islam Makhachev for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 284 on February 12, 2023, but lost via unanimous decision, earning Fight of the Night honors. He returned to featherweight, defeating Yair Rodríguez via TKO at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023. Scheduled to defend his featherweight title against Ilia Topuria at UFC 297, Volkanovski instead faced Makhachev in a rematch at UFC 294 on October 21, 2023, losing via first-round head kick knockout. His bout with Topuria was rescheduled to headline UFC 298 on February 17, 2024.

Alexander Volkanovski's Popular Fights

Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway

Alexander Volkanovski challenged Max Holloway for the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 245. The bout was an instant classic as Volkanovski barely out-landed Holloway 157-134 and edged out a unanimous decision victory to become the new UFC Featherweight Champion and increase his UFC win streak to 8.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 2

Volkanovski rematched Max Holloway at UFC 251. The fight was as close as the first one and Volkonovski yet again out-landed Holloway 139-111 while dominating the ground game with three takedowns and a ground control time of 1 minute 26 seconds as compared to Holloway's 0 takedowns and no ground control time. Volkanovski would win the bout via split decision.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Brian Ortega

Alexander Volkanovski fought Brian Ortega at UFC 266 for the UFC Featherweight Championship after serving as opposing head coach in the 29th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Volkanovski would dominate on the feet with 214 strikes to Ortega's 101 and dominate on the ground with a ground control time of 3 minutes 51 seconds to Ortega's 54 control time. Volkanovski would win the bout via unanimous decision.

Last updated on April 3, 2025