UFC 245: Wollongong fighter Alex Volkanovski confirmed for title fight
Australia could have two UFC champions before Christmas with Wollongong slugger Alex Volkanovski set for a Las Vegas showdown at the end of the year.
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Not so long ago, Alex Volkanovski was pouring concrete and playing prop with Warilla Gorillas.
From today, however, the Wollongong slugger will start preparing for a UFC championship fight.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Volkanovski, who has gone undefeated in all seven Octagon appearances, will challenge featherweight champ Max Holloway at UFC 245 on December 15.
The Las Vegas blockbuster, which was signed off by UFC officials last night, continues an incredible rise for the 30-year-old former bush footballer who once dreamt of playing NRL.
It also means Australia could have two UFC champions before Christmas.
In October, Sydneysider Robert Whittaker defends his middleweight crown in a trans-Tasman showdown against New Zealand prodigy Israel Adesanya.
Speaking earlier this week, ESPN analyst Chael Sonnen suggested the winner of that UFC 243 headliner — which is tracking for a sellout at Melbourne’s Marvel Arena — would become the company’s undisputed pound-for-pound king.
And now Volkanovski gets his shot, too.
Undefeated in his past 17 professional fights, the former Wollongong concreter gets his title shot after defeating Brazilian legend Jose Aldo at UFC 237 in May.
Despite starting a massive underdog with Las Vegas bookmakers, Volkanovski dominated all three rounds against Aldo, a future UFC Hall of Famer.
The news of a championship bout continues an incredible year for the Aussie who, after the Aldo win, contracted a severe bacterial infection during his first of three flights home from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
So bad was the situation, Volkanovski later revealed he could have lost a leg — or worse — if not rushed to a hospital in Santiago, Chile, after the biggest win of his UFC career.