As the former long-reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, we decided to take a deep dive into the MMA career of Alexander Volkanovski. Read on to find out more about his MMA record, his UFC title record and how many finishes he has on his resumé.
Alexander Volkanovski Record
Alexander Volkanovski turned professional back in 2012 with a debut victory against Gerhard Voigt in Sydney, Australia. Since then, Volkanovski has had another 29 professional MMA fights, winning all but four of them.
Volkanovski’s career has been nothing short of magnificent to date. The Australian is the former long-reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, having made five successful defenses of the title since winning the belt back in December 2019.
‘The Great’ was at a stage one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, of that there was no question. His career up to now has been sensational, and he still has some big nights left before he hangs his gloves up.
Now, Volkanovski aims to win back his 145-pound UFC Title after losing it at UFC 298 against the undefeated Ilia Topuria. Volkanovski was the marginal favorite to defend his world title belt and defeat Topuria with the best UFC betting sites, but it didn’t quite play out that way for ‘The Great’.
RELATED: Alexander Volkanovski Net Worth, Career Earnings & Endorsement Deals
As previously mentioned, Alexander Volkanovski made his professional MMA debut over a decade ago now. He was on a Revolution Promotions card where he made the perfect start to his career by winning via decision. Volkanovski then had 13 more fights as a pro MMA fighter before signing a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Up until four fights ago, ‘The Great’ was undefeated in his career in the UFC. He fought seven fights before fighting for the title, including wins over the likes of Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. His maiden UFC Featherweight Title shot came in December 2019, when he faced Max Holloway. ‘Volk’ won the fight via unanimous decision, becoming UFC champion at the first time of asking.
The pair had a rematch next at UFC 251 the following year, with Volkanovski winning the bout again. This time via split decision. The Australian then made two more successful defenses against Brian Ortega and ‘The Korean Zombie’, before facing Max Holloway for the third time in their trilogy.
On that occasion, Volkanovski won more conclusively against Holloway, putting an end to their three fight series. At this stage, Volkanovski had beaten all of the top contenders at 145-pounds, so dared to be great by stepping up to 155-pounds to face Islam Makhachev for the UFC Lightweight Title.
RELATED: Who Is Alexander Volkanovski’s Wife?
On that occasion, Volkanovski fell just short in an extremely close fight. The fight went the distance, with Makhachev getting the nod on the judges’ scorecards. Volkanovski then came back down to featherweight, successfully defending his belt against Yair Rodriguez.
‘Volk’ looked sensational on his return to featherweight, making the fifth defense of his UFC Featherweight Title after stopping Rodriguez in Round 3 of the bout. Then came Volkanovski’s second shot at UFC gold up at 155-pounds in his rematch with Islam Machachev.
However, in the rematch with Makhachev at UFC 294, Volkanovski suffered the second defeat of his UFC career and second to the Dagestani MMA phenom, getting knocked out in the very first round.
He moved back down to his natural weight of 145-pounds last time out of course, aiming to defend his UFC Featherweight Title for a record sixth time. However, despite being the favorite with the best US sportsbooks, ‘Volk’ was emphatically knocked out by Ilia Topuria, thus losing his belt in the process.
That takes us up to now in the career of Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski. There is a genuine argument that Volkanovski is the greatest featherweight fighter of all time. Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez and Max Holloway on three occasions are just some of the stellar names Volkanovski has defeated.
Who knows what is next for him after the Topuria defeat, but he likely still has a few big nights left in him. Be sure to claim the various sports betting apps bonuses and UFC free bets available on the SportsLens site ahead of Volkanovski’s next fight.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
