Aussie UFC star Alexander Volkanovski the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world

If you had previously told someone that one day an Australian mixed martial artist would be regarded as the best fighter in the UFC, they would have laughed in your face.

However, that is not the case anymore.

Alexander Volkanovski (25-1) has cemented himself as the best fighter in the world and the best ever from Australia, having become the No.1 pound-for-pound in the UFC.

This came after the UFC featherweight champion put forward one of his most dominant displays to end his long-standing rivalry with fellow featherweight great Max Holloway (23-7), beating the Hawaiian in all three of their encounters.

The 145-pound fighter has four title defences to his name, having defeated Holloway twice as champion, Brian Ortega (15-3) and Jung Chan-sung, better known as The Korean Zombie (17-7).

Alexander Volkanovski kicks Brian Ortega in their UFC featherweight championship fight at UFC 266. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

He is also on an amazing 22-fight win streak – 12-0 to start his UFC career – that stretches as far back as May 2013.

His undefeated UFC win streak is currently the second-best in the organisation, behind former pound-for-pound king and welterweight champ Kamaru Usman (20-1) who is on the cusp of equaling the great Anderson Silva’s 16-0 start.

Volk’s ability to control the pace of his fights and manage spaces between himself and his opponents makes him one of the most technical fighters in the world, and he fits the sporting cliche ‘student of the game’.

Australians have had a strong impact in the UFC, particularly in the past five years as middleweight Robert Whittaker (24-6) paved the way and became the first Aussie champion in 2017.

Volkanovski captured featherweight gold in 2019 when he beat Holloway for the first time and has carried the torch for Australia ever since.

Tai ‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa (15-3) is a heavyweight Australian talent who fans have had an eye on for a while. The 29-year-old is riding a five-fight win streak where he recently knocked out Derrick Lewis (26-9), which will now see him come up against former interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane (10-1) in September.

Volk’s quest for the title was far from easy, having overcome high-profile veterans like Chad Mendes (18-5) and Brazilian legend José Aldo (31-7) on his way to claim the gold belt.

Though Volkanovski still needs three title defenses to match Aldo’s record of seven (since WEC merged with the UFC), the Wollongong native is getting better each time he performs and you sense that record will soon be his to take.

Volkanovski wants to go up to the 155-pound division to challenge for the lightweight title, which would mean staking his claim to become the fifth fighter ever to hold two UFC titles simultaneously after Conor McGregor (22-6), Daniel Cormier (22-3), Amanda Nunes (21-5) and Henry Cejudo (16-2)

The current featherweight king will have a keen eye on the lightweight title bout between Charles Oliveira (33-8) and Islam Makhachev (22-1) in October.

Do you think Volkanovski can claim double-champ status?

Is he already the GOAT at 145 pounds in the UFC?