UFC 266 Alex Volkanovski v Brian Ortega: rugby, wife, height, weight loss, tattoos, Covid, record

He could be Australia’s biggest loser in terms of weight loss, dumping more than 30kg to become a UFC fighter. Here’s more interesting background about Alexander Volkanovski.

Australian UFC fighter Alex Volkanovski ahead of his fight with Brian Ortega.

The featherweight title is on the line as Alexander Volkanovski looks to defend his belt for the second time when he battles Brian Ortega in Las Vegas, Nevada.

We look at where the former semi professional footballer and Australian MMA fighter came from and a few things you may not have know about him.

Alexander Volkanovski with his featherweight championship belt.

* He is 32-years-old, he is 1.68m tall and weighs around 66kg. He also has a 180cm reach.

* He hails from Warilla on the NSW south coast and is a proud Illawarra resident.

* He says growing up in the area made him “tough and the man I am’’.

“That hardworking guy that never gives up, always adapts to what is in front of me.”

Fight Week Volk 🏆

We're 3 days away from @alexvolkanovski defending the belt at #UFC266pic.twitter.com/v2rMCZu7Tz

— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) September 22, 2021

* Volkanovski is based out of the Freestyle Fighting Gym in Windang.

* He is the current UFC featherweight champion. He is also a former Australian fighting championship featherweight champion.

* He played his rugby league with local club, the Warilla Gorillas. “I wore the blue and yellow with pride,” he said in a UFC video recently.

* He was a prop forward despite his height. But he did weigh almost 100 kilos when playing!

* He lead the Gorillas to a championship title in 2011 and a year earlier won the MickCronin medal for the league’s best player.

* Growing up he was originally into Greco Roman wrestling

* He took up MMA fighting for off-season league training and fitness then at 23 started to get serious.

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski poses for a photograph with his championship belt back in 2019.

NRL FINALS: Our players creating a Storm

* After starting in UFC he started dropping weight - in all around 33 kilos!

* Local Joe Lopez is his head coach.

* His wife is Emma Volkanovski and he has two daughters Ariana and Ellie. Says he is a “family man” and has the word family as a tattoo.

* His background is Macedonian and Greek.

* He has 1,29158 flowers on Twitter.

* Was diagnosed with Covid-19 pneumonia in May while in the US

* His father is a concreter and he worked as one after leaving school as well.

* He made his professional debut in 2012.

* He had surgery on his right hand after his win over Max Holloway.

* He went to school at Lake Illawarra High School.

UFC 266 Volkanovski vs Ortega

Sunday

Read more from AMANDA LULHAM HERE