Alexander Volkanovski has been granted the greatest access of any Australian attending the upcoming UFC White House card — and more backstage leeway than even The Rock, Tom Brady or comedian Adam Sandler.
While he may not be fighting on the South Lawn come June 15, Fox Sports Australia can reveal Volkanovski is still set to be at the hyped American combat event which – officially titled UFC Freedom 250 – is estimated to cost some $US60 million.
Only 4300 people will be inside for the invite-only extravaganza, with a large chunk of those seats reserved for military members.
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However, early next week, UFC featherweight king Volkanovski is jetting Stateside to join an elite list of UFC White House guests which includes the likes of NFL great Brady and Hollywood megastar Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
UFC boss Dana White also gave a sneak peak into some of the other celebrity invitees this past week, telling Time magazine how some of those set to be cageside also include Sandler, Jared Leto, Jason Statham, Mario Lopez and film director Guy Ritchie.
Meanwhile, there will also be a handful of Australians on the South Lawn – including, most obviously, UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, plus Volkanovski and Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delaney.
Fox Sports’ Matty Johns will also be on the ground in Washington DC for the event.
However, rather than simply being in the White House crowd, Volk will be given an incredible behind-the-scenes look into the event, given he will be cornering Brazilian lightweight star Mauricio Ruffy, who fights American fan favourite Michael Chandler on the undercard.
Only a few months back, no less than Joe Rogan was calling for Volkanovski to be catapulted onto the Washington DC event, declaring on his popular podcast: “White House lawn, let’s go – give the man a couple of months off, we’re only in March and it’s in June.
“Come on, spice that card up baby.”
Yet while he will not be fighting inside the cage, it is understood Volk has agreed to be part of the action with Team Ruffy.
Back in January, the Brazilian caused a stir in fight circles – including inside his own Fighting Nerds Gym – when he surprisingly decided to travel Down Under and prepare for UFC 325 alongside Volkanovski.
The move proved an instant success, with both Ruffy and Volkanovski victorious in Sydney, beating Rafael Fiziev and Diego Lopes respectively – and each of them also earning $100,000 performance bonuses.
Inside the cage, Ruffy delivered a statement performance, stopping Fiziev by second-round TKO to vault himself into the lightweight Top 10.
Afterwards, Volk also heaped praise on his new training partner for having got through an incredibly difficult camp, which included the tragic death of his brother, while Ruffy also revealed that he almost had to withdraw from the fight due to illness.
“If I had lost, I would never have opened up about that,” he said. “But I spent four days in a bed shaking with fever.
“I was weighing 76 kilograms, but due to the medicines I took I went back up to 80 kilograms but fortunately I was able to recover.”
While Volkanovski and his head coach, Joe Lopez, regularly get international guests visiting their now famed Freestyle MMA gym in the south coast town of Windang, Ruffy spent all two months of camp with the team, and heaped praise on his progress there.
“In my mind I had a very good takedown defense — at least that’s what I’ve always heard,” Ruffy said shortly after the win.
“But after my last fight, I decided to go after improvement. Those two months in Australia were really important. Training with Volkanovski, I found out that I know nothing about grappling.”
The move has, however, angered one of the Brazilian’s team-mates, Jean Silva, given he fights in the same division as Volk.
However, so successful has their partnership become, it’s understood Volkanovski will now be cornering Ruffy for the White House event.
It is unknown how, if at all, this will reshape the rest of the corner.
However back in March, Ruffy’s coach Pablo Sucupira suggested if Volk was in the corner moving forward then he would have to stand down, given he also trains Silva.
“If Volkanovski is in his corner in the next fight, I don’t feel comfortable being there. After all, I’m preparing an athlete to fight him,” he said.
Already, UFC Freedom 250 – set for America’s most famous residence in a fortnight – is rapidly taking shape, with construction crews steadily building the temporary arena on the South Lawn.
The towering red, white and blue scaffolding that will light the event is now fully visible from the North Lawn, while cranes have occupied the area since the weekend as organisers ramp up preparations.
A huge logistical effort is underway behind the scenes as the UFC attempts to pull off one of the most ambitious events in MMA history.
The UFC is also constructing a large viewing party nearby at The Ellipse Park, where up to 85000 fight fans will be able to watch the event live on big screens.
“Our country is invited to this, it’s free,” President Trump told reporters.
The President will preside over the spectacle as part of celebrations marking America’s 250th year of independence, and according to White, has been impressed with preparations.
“Literally this weekend, the president called me two days in a row,” White told talkSPORT.
“He is blown away by what is going on over there already. It’s going to be an incredible event.
“Whether you are on the south lawn or the thousands watching from the ellipse, it’s going to be incredible.”
White, who has never been a fan of outdoor shows, has said that the only weather condition that could impact the event is lightning.
“Outdoors is just way too unpredictable,” White told Fox News.
“And we’ve gone over this, if it rains, we’re going. If it snows, we’re going.
“The only thing that will stop us is lightning. But we’re working with the military. So the military knows the weather 10 days out.”
White also recently stressed that he was concerned about the number of gnats on the lawn, which he believes may be aggravated by the bright lights.
“In your mouth, in your nose while you’re trying to fight,” White said on the Boardroom Talks podcast.
“I was telling Craig, my head of production, I’m like, ‘Maybe we put fans in, because gnats have a bad time in the wind.
“I don’t know. These are all the little details we have to think about. That’s why I don’t like fighting outside ever.”
The card will feature seven fights in total, headlined by a blockbuster lightweight title unification showdown between reigning champ Ilia Topuria and interim champ Justin Gaethje.
In the co-main, two-division superstar Alex Pereira moves up to heavyweight to face Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight crown, with “Poatan” chasing history as he aims to become the first three-division champion in UFC history.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said that the blockbuster “will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history.
“President Trump hosting it at the White House is a testament to his vision to celebrate America’s monumental 250th anniversary,” he said.