Alexander Volkanovski can remember back to a time when, before fights, he would get sent a $20,000 TAB ticket.
Exactly who it belonged to though?
The fighter was never so sure.
“But I still remember it,” he grins.
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Which is unsurprising given, at the time, Volkanovski didn’t sit No.1 in the UFC pound for pound rankings.
Nor was he even yet UFC featherweight king.
No, back when he was receiving those $20K betting slips before fights, Volkanovski was a fella not only fresh to Octagon walks, but not too far removed from days concreting, headlining Wollongong Wars, even carting a Steeden for the Warilla Gorillas.
A knockabout Windang tradie who hadn’t only been broke, or living with his young family in a spare room at mum’s place, but toiling on jobsites while waiting to hear from a UFC company that had already decided he was too boring for the Octagon.
Which is hard to believe now, right?
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Yet know that when he walks out to headline UFC 284 in Perth this Sunday, it will be almost 11 years to the day since a completely unknown Volkanovski rocked into tryouts for Australia’s first ever version of UFC reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter.
Dubbed TUF: Smashes, and running competitions for lightweights and welterweights, this was the same program that eventually proved to be the launching pad for a young CityRail electrician named Robert Whittaker.
But Volkanovski?
He was gone from the moment they put a camera in his face.
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But more on that soon enough.
First, those $20,000 TAB tickets.
Copies of which Volkanovski would receive before fights, and while climbing up through the rankings, so often the underdog, against the likes of Darren Elkins, Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo.
Which, unsurprisingly, shocked this son of a Wollongong concreter.
With Volkanovski never quite believing this same mystery punter was again sending proof of yet another big bet on him. Each time, accompanying a photo of his latest betting slip with a note reading something like: ‘Backing you again, mate’.
A pre-fight ritual that continued right up until 2019.
When not far out from his first world title shot against Max Holloway, the Australian received a note from that same punter which, today, effectively goes to the core of who he is.
“Hey Volk,” it read, “you’ve just paid off my house”.
And, yes, this may be a story hardcore fight fans have heard us tell before.
But never has it meant as much.
Especially now with Volkanovski not simply in the biggest fight of his life, or the biggest fight in Australian UFC history, but once again the biggest of outsiders against feared Dagestani wrestler Islam Makhachev.
Officially, Volk is moving up to challenge for Makhachev’s UFC lightweight title.
That, and become just the fifth fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously.
But the real yarn, as always, is that of the underdog from Windang.
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With Volkanovski so unloved in betting, even on homesoil, he remains a $3.75 TAB outsider.
“Or a good bet,” the champ laughs, kicking back this particular Thursday with Fox Sports Australia inside the UFC fighter hotel.
“Because, yes, I’ve got a big challenge in front of me.
“But I’m also that guy.
“I’m the fighter with the durability, the ticker, the ability to work a game plan … I’m the fighter who has everything required for an underdog victory.”
Then, after a brief pause, adds: “So how can you not put money on that?”
Certainly plenty of Australian fight fans agree.
With a TAB spokesperson revealing late Thursday night that Volkanovski currently holds not only 93 per cent of all the money taken for the UFC 284 headliner, but a bet of $10,000 and several more around $5000.
“And I still remember that guy reaching out to me saying ‘hey, I paid off my house betting on you’,” the Australian grins.
“So maybe people have forgotten what got me here.
“I know this week there are a lot of people saying ‘oh, look what Islam has done to all these other guys he fought’.
“But who gives a f*** what he’s done?
“I’m a whole different breed.
“I’ve told you that. And I’ve proved it.”
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At which point, Volkanovski then points to a small phrase written across the chest of his signature black t-shirt — the latest product in an expanding empire that goes well beyond the Cooking With Volk videos and slick merchandise range.
“Earned. Not Given,” the 34-year-old says, repeating the line.
“My whole career, nothing has ever been given to me.
“While there are fighters who talk things up, hype things so that opportunities come their way, I’ve never done it like that.
“I’ve done things the way they’re meant to be done.
“Come up through the ranks, fight the guys in front of you. Doesn’t matter who — take them all out.
“And I’m still doing that now I’m at the top.”
Which is why, already ranked No.1 in the pound-for-pound rankings, Volkanovski is stepping up in weight — and against the prodigy of no less than Khabib Nurmagomedov — to prove said crown, it really should sit atop his head.
“And people have asked me ‘do you really need this?’,” the UFC featherweight champ continues.
“But I want this.
“I want to separate myself from everyone — do things the others won’t, and fight the people others avoid.
“If I want to be ‘champ champ’, I can’t care who is holding the belt I want.
“Just as I’m not waiting (for the easiest guy).
“I don’t have time to wait.
“I’m called Alexander The Great … but I want to be the greatest.”
All of which continues an incredible run for this fella continually overlooked by bookmakers, analysts, even those producers of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes years back.
“And I don’t know exactly what happened or was said,” shrugs Volkanovski, who at the time was only a fight or two into his professional career after making the switch from bush footy star.
“But I remember as part of those TUF tryouts, you had to go through all these different stages.
“And I got as far as the interviews …”
So what went wrong?
“Wasn’t as comfortable in front of cameras back then,” grins the fighter who, after being overlooked, then went away and spent months practising interviews with his coach Joe Lopez, who would play the role of reporter.
“I was trying to say what I thought people wanted to hear.
“So I never got picked.
“Which I guess is a cool story.”
Or more specifically, the Volkanovski story, right?
“This is who I’ve always been,” he shrugs. “And who I always will be.
“As I try telling people, I’m always the safe bet.”
