ALEXANDER Volkanovski is a professional mixed martial artist from Australia.
He is the current UFC featherweight champion — here we take a look at his life, career and net worth.
Alexander Volkanovski was born on September 29, 1988, in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
He is the reigning UFC featherweight champion, retaining his belt by defeating Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in his last fight.
Alexander is also a former featherweight champion in the Australian Fighting Championship (AFC).
His nickname is ‘The Great’ — referencing Alexander the Great — because he also has a Macedonian father and a Greek mother, just like the ancient military genius and emperor.
Alexander dabbled in wrestling and played semi-professional rugby before venturing into mixed martial arts.
“I played rugby league, I probably played for about 10 years I think, and I wrestled before then,” he told MMA Fighting.
“I did about a year of wrestling, and I think I got a bit tired of the tights, so I started to play football with the mates.
Behind every great man… is a tall woman
Emma Volkanovski
“I used to be a front rower, the big guys up front. I used to be 97 kilograms, which is like 210 pounds, or something like that.”
Although he’s always been a huge fan of the sport, it wasn’t until his early 20s that he decided to take up MMA seriously.
“I’ve always loved UFC. I watched it back since the days it wasn’t big in Australia at all, and you had to watch a Blockbuster videos.
“They would always come like a year late, but I tried as many of the live ones I could or wait for the videos to come out.
“So, I’ve loved the sport for that long. I’ve always been into martial arts.
“So finally I said, you know what, I’m going to take this on and take it all the way. And it happened.”
Alexander’s next opponent is Ilia Topuria, and El Matador’s cocky antics ahead of his shot at featherweight gold on February 17, 2024 at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California haven’t gone unnoticed by featherweight king.
He believes Topuria is setting himself up for the grandest of falls.
As well as posting Hollywood-esque videos declaring himself the next 145lbs king, Topuria changed his Instagram bio to read “UFC World Champion Undefeated 15-0” along with an image of himself holding a belt.
The Great told SunSport: “I think he really loves the whole — what could I say — the famous side of things. The celebrity sort of business.
“Mate, this ain’t the celebrity business. Yeah, you might be popular but you’ve gotta remember what comes first. It’s training.
“If you’re already sitting there being a celebrity, you’re gonna be in for a rude, rude shock when you come and face me.
“Or anyone [of these top guys]. He hasn’t had the chance to face some of these top guys. It’s not gonna be enough.”
He added: “If he wants to be a champion one day or a great champion, he’s going to need me to do what I’m going to do this weekend and then he’s going to thank me for it.”
Alexander has an estimated net worth of around $3.5million (£2.8million) according to multiple publications.
His star is rising in the fight game, and so are his fight purses.
According to MMASalaries, in 2019 he received around $110,000 (£87,300) per fight.
Whereas when Alexander battered Max Holloway at UFC 276 in 2022, the same outlet claims he received $1million (£794,000).
And EssentiallySports predicts he will take home a cool $1.5million (£1.2million) for his UFC 298 fight against Topuria.
Alexander Volkanovski married his high school sweetheart Emma on October 12, 2012.
On Emma’s birthday in 2020, the fighter wrote on Instagram: “Happy Anniversary to this stunner!! 8 years of marriage, 15 years together…high school sweethearts. Here’s to many more years
together.”
Emma’s Instagram account remains private, but she does have a Twitter account where she shares posts about her husband’s achievements.
She once quipped in a tweet: “Behind every great man… is a tall woman. @alexvolkanovski #champ.”
Alexander and Emma have three daughters — Ariana, born in 2015, Arlie, born in 2017, and Reign, born in 2023.
Speaking about balancing life as a fighter with being a family man, Volkanovski shared on Instagram Stories: “The balance between training and family can get tricky.
“But as long as I’m giving both 100% and I’m not wasting my time when I’m with family or when I’m in the gym, I know I’m there for a purpose and I’m doing it properly.”
