Athletes
ALEXANDER AND THE MOUNTAIN
Featherweight Champ Alexander Volkanovski Lays Out What Separates Him From The Pack Ahead Of His Championship Clash With Yair Rodriguez In Saturday’s UFC 290 Main Event
Throughout his championship reign — and for the entirety of his career, really — Alexander Volkanovski has been telling anyone that will listen that if he can achieve greatness, they can achieve greatness because he’s just a somewhat undersized bloke from “The Gong” that decided to have a go at this mixed martial arts thing.
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Now, the 34-year-old stands as the UFC featherweight champion, ready to defend his title against interim champ Yair Rodriguez in the main event of UFC 290 this weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“It’s awesome to always see the limits I can get myself to,” Volkanovski said when asked about his current standing as one of the absolute best fighters on the planet. “It’s unreal for me to see, but I think it’s incredible for the world to see — for the underdogs, for the undersized people, for the people everyone thought doesn’t stand a chance in anything, because the sky is the limit when you really do commit and are disciplined enough, have that work ethic.
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“If you commit to what you do, anything can happen, and I believe I’m living proof of it.”
While it’s fair to say that Volkanovski wasn’t someone that pundits and forecasters saw as a future champion when he first touched down in the UFC with a win over Yusuke Kasuya on November 26, 2016, in Melbourne, it has become abundantly clear with each successive victory, each massive challenge faced that, contrary to his own assessment, Volkanovski is an outstanding athlete, but also that he approaches things differently, and those two things combine to help elevate him to rarified heights, not just in MMA, but in sports, period.
In speaking with Eric Nicksick for the Coach Conversation series focused on Volkanovski’s fight with Rodriguez, the Xtreme Couture leader identified the Aussie champion’s best trait as “that Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan mentality of ‘I might be No. 1, but I’m going to add things to my toolbox and extend my lead on people.’”
It’s undeniably true.
Not only does Volkanovski make keen adjustments within fights, as he did in his second meeting with Max Holloway, but since he’s risen to the top of the featherweight mountain, he’s continued elevating his game between each appearance, as well.
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Some of it comes from his ability to “play on” — to quickly put disappointments or frustrations like his February loss to lightweight champ Islam Makhachev behind him quickly and turn his focus to the next challenge — but it also comes from his being allergic to complacency.
“I don’t want to just be better than my opponents — I want to evolve, I want to improve, I want to know more, do more, understand more,” he said when asked about that “Mamba Mentality” that Nicksick spoke of standing out as his best trait. “You’re never gonna be perfect, but I want that perfection.
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“I want to go in the gym, be disciplined, turn up every time and get better, and when you’ve got that mentality, every day you step in that gym for however long it is, there is a purpose to that — to get better. Some people go through the motions, but, for me, it’s not about that: it’s about improving my skill set, improving my mental state, my mindset; striving to be better.”
Alexander Volkanovski: Then & Now | UFC 30th Anniversary
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We talk all the time about how becoming champion and staying champion are two totally different things, with the latter being more daunting than the former, and growing increasingly more difficult with each successive triumph.
It’s not that reaching the top of the mountain is easy — it’s a daunting task, which is why so few athletes ever reach the summit — but getting there and staying there is something altogether different, which is why we celebrate those that build themselves mountaintop residences with spectacular views.
But Volkanovski isn’t just content with having an address atop the featherweight mountain — he’s working to constantly change the landscape and make the climb to the top even more challenging for the pack that’s looking to evict him from his current abode, and that’s the bit that makes him truly special.
“We talk about the top of the mountain and you’ve got all these contenders, and they’re climbing there,” began the champion, making a peak with his hands in order to further accentuate what he was saying. “But I don’t want them just to not reach the top of the mountain — I want this mountain to keep f***ing growing!
“These m*****f***** need to continue to climb, pardon my French, because every couple of months, the top of that mountain is getting is f****** further away from them. That’s how I look at it.”
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The all-too-perfect “constantly growing mountain” metaphor underscored things he’d already said, and elements that you already know about his focus and drive, but when you combine that base approach with the added fuel that comes with the non-stop wave of dangerous challenges the Australian continues to face down, you see how someone quick to describe himself as “not anything special” as an athlete or competitor can elevate himself to where he’s on the short list of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport today and making a case for a place in the pantheon of all-time greats.
“Having the challengers definitely adds to it,” added Volkanovski. “I don’t need these things to motivate me, but I’d be lying if I said having certain opponents — having Islam, having these guys say, ‘He doesn’t stand a chance!’ meant I needed to raise the bar. I knew I would be a hard matchup, and I knew there had to be a lot of work.
“I was gonna do it any way — like I told you, that mountain is gonna keep getting further and further up — but having challenges gets it up quicker; it adds that extra fire, that extra excitement.”
The challenge in front of him this weekend is Rodriguez, a 30-year-old dynamo fresh off a second-round submission win over Josh Emmett at UFC 284 in Perth.
That performance, which came just prior to Volkanovski sharing the Octagon with Makhachev, was the best Rodriguez had looked in his 13-fight UFC career — an intoxicating display of speed, quickness, sharp fundamentals and dangerous creativity resulting in a slick triangle choke finish, an interim title for the Mexican standout, and a ticket to share the cage with Volkanovski at a future date.
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Now, roughly five months later, the future has arrived, and man that has sat atop the featherweight division since December 14, 2019, is ready to face down the next climber looking to reach the summit, and he has no plans on filing a change of address any time soon.
“He’s a dangerous fella, but I’m gonna really show people that I can beat anyone, anywhere,” said Volkanovski when asked about this weekend’s UFC 290 main event. “I’m gonna show people why I’m ‘King of the Featherweights.’
“He’s dangerous, I’ve got nothing but respect for him, but I’m on a whole different level and I want to show people that this weekend.”
UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 8, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
