Life is nice today for Alexander Volkanovski, the UFC featherweight champion. He’s wealthy, drives a luxurious automotive, has a household he adores and that adores him, had a pub named after him close to his residence in Australia and has risen to 3rd within the UFC’s most up-to-date pound-for-pound rankings behind solely Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya.
He’s held the UFC featherweight championship since 2019 and on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida, he’ll make the fourth protection of his belt as an awesome favourite (-750 at BetMGM) over Chan Sung Jung, aka “The Korean Zombie,” in the principle occasion of UFC 273.
He’s received 20 fights in a row and 23 of 24 in his skilled profession. His solely loss got here in 2013 in his fourth professional bout, a welterweight match towards Corey Nelson at Australian FC 5.
He exuded confidence from the second he joined the UFC, however unhealthy information for the remainder of the 145-pounders: After what he went by means of towards Brian Ortega in his final outing, he’s extra assured than ever.
“I’m a pretty confident guy,” the affable Aussie mentioned.
His self-belief elevated tenfold or extra when he didn’t faucet to a decent rear-naked choke Ortega slapped on late within the battle. Ortega is a black belt below Rener Gracie and has a unprecedented squeeze on his choke.
When he caught Volkanovski within the choke, and Volkanovski was gurgling for air, it appeared as if a brand new championship reign was at hand. However Volkanovski remained calm and located a approach out.
He’d deliberately thrown himself into such unhealthy positions to arrange for the eventuality in a battle, however right here he was, his title on the road, the lights shining brightest, and he remained calm within the midst of the hurricane round him.
“I’ve never been a type to panic,” Volkanovski mentioned. “You know what I mean? Like, training with guys that I train with, I’ve been in bad positions plenty of times. They get you sort of comfortable in there. But it’s not comfortable. They teach you not to panic in these situations. I’m a pretty durable guy. I’ve got a lot of heart. And I’m going to keep fighting til the end. But not panicking definitely can save you some seconds, as well. And having that was a real indicator. I was like, ‘That’s how deep it was.’ But purely because I didn’t panic and things like that, it made me really be confident in what I sort of already knew, what I told myself.
“But now, I know. There’s proof, right? It’s living proof. You can rewatch that tape. And you can see that. Not even just see it. I felt it it. It doesn’t get any deeper than that. And me doing the things that we worked on, and not panicking, and making that enough space, that’s really helped me, even in the gym. So now, being in them positions, you know, I’m cruising. It’s very hard to submit me with chokes. Like, it always was hard. Always was very hard. But now, it’s just even harder, where I always feel like, ‘Oh, their arms are going to always gas out before I go out.’ ”
Volkanovski’s solely loss left an impression on his conqueror. Nelson, who now works building, informed Fox Sports activities Australia he noticed the qualities first-hand that Volkanovski displayed towards Ortega.
Volkanovski was as soon as a 230-pound rugby participant, however at that weight, he was by no means practically as athletic as he’s now. However from the primary time he competed in sports activities, he was a fierce competitor.
Nelson hit him with a kick to the physique and two to the top that harm him. He remembers it properly. However he additionally remembers Volkanovski’s mettle.
“Sharing the cage with him, I saw what everyone else now sees,” Nelson informed Fox Sports activities Australia. “His heart. What that guy has, you can’t teach it.”
It’s what allows a fighter to win 20 in a row and to return again from a vicious knockout even higher.
He’s superior a lot that with one other win or two at featherweight, he’ll need to begin to search for critical challenges at light-weight.
They’ll have dimension and who is aware of what else on him if and when he goes to battle at 155. However one factor they’ll by no means be capable to query is what he confirmed probably the most in that Ortega battle:
His championship coronary heart.
