UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski’s home city pays tribute to the featherweight champion with prestigious key to Wollongong

Two-time UFC featherweight champion and Aussie sporting legend Alexander Volkanovski just received the keys to the city of Wollongong, where he was born. This honor is reserved for select citizens that bring pride to its people and represent their hometown on the international circuit.

With his two UFC title reigns and inspiring comeback story, Alexander Volkanovski more than deserves this honor. On top of this, he is also the first Australian to win a UFC world title.

'The Great' posted about receiving the keys on his Instagram with the caption:

"Cheers! @wollongongcity it’s an honour"

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Alexander Volkanovski's accomplishments in the UFC alone could fill up this whole article. Apart from being a two-time UFC featherweight king, 'The Great' has the second-most title fight wins at featherweight just behind fellow legend Jose Aldo.

He also has the second-longest winning streak in the promotion's featherweight history and the highest recorded striking differential at featherweight as well. Currently, he reigns over the 145 pound division after capturing the vacant belt against Diego Lopes at UFC 314.

Alexander Volkanovski after second title win: "Adversity is a priviledge"

Of all Volkanovski's accomplishments inside the octagon, perhaps the most emotional one was his recapturing of the UFC featherweight title at UFC 314. After regaining the throne coming of back-to-back KO losses, 'Volk' dropped one of the hardest and most powerful quotes in combat sports history.

In his post-fight octagon interview with Joe Rogan, Volkanovski said (1:44):

"For everyone watching, hey, adversity is a privilege. You hear people talk about that all the time. It truly is. This moment is incredible."

When asked by Rogan what it was like to get back to the top after losing via KO to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria, the two-time featherweight king said (2:13):

"It's an opportunity. You get adversity. If you build yourself back, it's only going to make you stronger. Even if it doesn't work out. But a lot of times, it does - if you really pursue it. And look what can happen. Break records. This sh*t, people are going to write books about. This is going to be [in] movies, you know what I mean? Like that type of sh*t - that's what it's all about."

Listen to Alexander Volkanovski here:

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Krishna Venki