Australia’s greatest ever athlete is a 5’6’’ concreter.
Discuss.
Understanding this is what the entire MMA world is now asking of us Australians, right?
With social media catching fire over the past 24 hours as countless UFC types – think journalists, analysts, even fighters – demand to know where Alexander Volkanovski ranks among our nation’s greatest athletes.
Which shouldn’t surprise given everything that happened Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
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Volkanovski retains featherweight title | 03:31
With Volk, despite being aged 38, and in a title fight bookies couldn’t split, despite being run down by the flu, by history, and who knows how many naysayers tipping him to be wrassled into retirement, completely demolishing the previously unbeaten Russian bogeyman Movsar Evloev.
Better, the champ did it all in under two rounds
Leading into Sunday’s UFC 333 headliner, Evloev had gone a dozen years and 20 consecutive fights without loss.
Yet against Australia’s most intimidating Girl Dad?
Well, he lasted only a tick over nine minutes.
Which means even more than now boasting most title wins in UFC featherweight history, or bringing serious gravitas to his second title run, Volk has also gone and demolished three generations of fighters.
Oh yeah, he’s also doing at an age where most blokes are flat out playing C Grade Oz-Tag.
“Built f***ing different,” is how UFC boss Dana White put it Sunday.
And why now the fighting world is asking to know where this UFC featherweight king sits among the likes of Sir Donald Bradman, Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe, Cathy Freeman, Rod Laver, even Betty Cuthbert.
AMERICAN’S DEMAND TO KNOW WHERE VOLK SITS AMONG OUR GREATEST
Sunday’s press conference was barely done in Abu Dhabi when leading UFC analyst Kenny Florian, writing on ‘X’, asked aloud about Volkanovski’s standing among Australia’s greatest sportspeople.
“I admittedly know next to nothing about cricket, Aussie rules football, or rugby,” Florian started.
“But I have a question for the Australians out there: Is it fair to put Alexander Volkanovski in the pantheon of Australia’s greatest athletes, alongside legends like Rod Laver and Ian Thorpe?
“Because from where I’m sitting, Volk has earned his place in that conversation.”
Unsurprisingly, the responses were overwhelmingly for the affirmative.
It was a similar story with leading UFC journalist Ariel Helwani.
“Question for the Aussies,” he tweeted to his own 1.4M followers. “Does Volk get covered back home like other global Aussie sports stars? He really should. One of the greatest ever regardless of weight class. I’m just curious if he gets the same love and respect in the media and mainstream, if you will.”
Again, the responses exploded, this time from fans saying how, despite his greatness, Volk deserved waaaaaaaay more love from mainstream media Down Under – even though, to be fair, UFC fighters are hardly a staple on Good Morning America.
Yet regardless, the point had been made.
Volk is king and the MMA community wants him given his due.
THE ARGUMENT FOR VOLK BEING AMONG OUR GREATEST
The argument to put Volk among the likes of Thorpedo and co. isn’t anything new.
In fact, it was three years ago in Las Vegas when we had this very discussion with Dylan Alcott, a Paralympic legend who was just coming off his own reign as 2022 Australian of the Year.
“We have a rich culture of great athletes,” Alcott told us on the eve of what would be another Volk win over Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290. “Some incredible performers.
“But, mate, Volk is a back-to-back-to-back-to-back world champion. I think he’s a top five athlete and a lot of people are starting to see that now too.”
It was this same conversation that exploded following February’s win over Diego Lopes.
Fronting the Australian press immediately after his win, Volk was asked how it felt to now sit among the nation’s greatest athletes?
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At which point, and before the fighter could answer, manager Ash Belcastro shouted from somewhere off to the side of the media room: “The greatest …”
And while comparing even fighters from different eras is almost impossible — let alone athletes from different sports – it’s impossible to argue against Volk now deserving a seat among the likes of Jeff Fenech, Kostya Tszyu, Johnny Famechon, Lionel Rose and Les Darcy.
Similarly, he has also entered the Greatest Athlete debate.
And how could he not, given his almost impossible rise from Warilla Gorilla to undeniable UFC Hall of Famer – and all while staying true to a character built so heavily on that bedrock of loyalty, respect, and such massive helpings of self-deprecating humour.
TOP THREE: YOU CAN’T CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE
Taking to Instagram immediately after Volk’s latest win, popular Hello Sport podcaster Tommy Birmingham spoke for countless Aussie fight fans when he said our nation’s sporting greats, in no particular order, must now go Bradman, Freeman, Volkanovski.
“Volkanovski is one of the greatest athletes in Australian history, bar none,” he said. “On the podium, top three, you can’t convince me otherwise.
“Bradman, Cathy, Volk— I don’t know who it is, but Volk’s there.
“He has just defended his featherweight title — which he’s won twice, by the way — for a ninth time. That’s a record. He’s 38 years old. That’s a record.
“He just crushed a guy inside of two rounds who was undefeated, 20-0, Russian beast.
“He doesn’t get enough respect in this country, and he gets a lot of respect. He needs to be held up in the pantheon of all-time Australian greats. He’s a complete freak …”
All the big knockouts from UFC 333! | 02:48
WHERE SHOULD VOLK SIT?
Of course, outside of the MMA bubble, and even Aussie fighting circles, there will be those who stress, as great as Volk is, he isn’t on the podium.
And to play devil’s advocate for a moment, there is no doubting that, while Volkanovski’s achievements in the sport he has effectively helped build, and shape, Down Under are incredible, there is also no arguing the entry level for UFC is far shallower than other sports.
Similarly, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts itself, while boasting origins that hail all the way back to Ancient Greece, effectively remains incredibly young – with even UFC 1 taking place only as far back as 1993.
Recency bias, of course, is undeniably a thing too.
And while a fighter like Jeff Fenech won world titles in multiple divisions, ‘The Great’ has twice been bested in his tilts at a second weight class – albeit both times by the legendary Islam Makhachev.
Volk eyes off Gaethje superfight | 00:47
Yet even in those cases, it should also be noted, the argument for Volk’s greatness only grew – with the Windang native almost causing a boilover in the first Makhachev fight, while incredibly taking the second on only 11 days’ notice.
Consider too, that Max Holloway is also considered among the sport’s greatest fighters.
And Volk beat him three times.
Same as he impossibly escaped a Brian Ortega choke,
Similarly, after Sunday’s win Volk is now looking to go up one more time and challenge reigning UFC lightweight king Justin Gaethje – who famously finished Ilia Topuria in June on the White House lawn.
Should Volk win there, it will be the perfect finish to one of our country’s greatest athletic stories.
And on that there will be no debate.