Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has been offered an $8000 cageside seat for UFC 290 in Las Vegas as the hype around Alexander Volkanovski’s blockbuster title defence continues to grow.
Only seven years on from laying concrete and living in a spare room at mum’s place with his young family, Australia’s UFC featherweight king is now readying for the most dangerous fight of his career in Las Vegas this Sunday.
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, Volkanovski’s agent also revealed the champ has been approached about training Zuckerberg following a bizarre fight offer from fellow billionaire CEO Elon Musk – with the Italian government this week offering up no less than Rome’s Colosseum as a potential fight venue.
UFC 290 | SUN JULY 9: It’s an Aussie Takeover in Vegas for one of biggest fights of the year. UFC Champ Alex Volkanovski takes on Yair Rodriguez and fan favourite Rob Whittaker returns to the Octagon. ORDER ON MAIN EVENT ON KAYO SPORTS >
This is the world Australia’s No.1 fighter now finds himself in.
Not only defending his UFC strap this Sunday for a fifth time, or topping a card boasting no less than five Australians, but taking on Mexico’s Yair Rodriguez in a championship blockbuster so big even nosebleed tickets cost $300.
With Rodriguez being hailed the most dangerous test of Volkanovski’s career, the fight is attracting huge interest Stateside — with Zuckerberg, Hollywood’s Mel Gibson, even NFL legend Tom Brady among those on the invite list.
Elsewhere, a host of Australian athletes like NBA point guard Josh Giddey, Paralympian Dylan Alcott and WWE Superstar Grayson Waller are also a chance to be in the house cheering their countryman.
In recent years, Zuckerberg has become good mates with Volkanovski, while Matt Damon, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson are also unabashed fans of the former Warilla Gorilla and Wollongong concreter.
Only last month, ‘The Great’ was also signed on to promote Prime energy drinks by owner Logan Paul – with both he and fellow UFC champ Israel Adesanya jetting into Puerto Rico where the pair rolled with Paul, shot commercials and received matching gold chains worth $35,000 each.
But even more important are the sessions Volkanovski has been undertaking with Australian jiu jitsu master Craig Jones, taekwondo ace Carl Van Roon and fellow UFC fighter Blood Diamond.
In a bid to ready for the unpredictable fight style of Rodriguez, Volkanovski’s head coach Joe Lopez has had both Van Roon and Diamond try to mimic the Mexican as closely as possible.
Elsewhere, Jones has also been working with the Sydneysider to help prepare for an opponent he warns is “an innovator on the ground”.
Undoubtedly, it would be huge news if Zuckerberg is among the sold out T-Mobile Arena this weekend.
While his only previous fight appearance was at a closed off UFC Apex centre last October, where he sat cageside to watch Mackenzie Dern, Volkanovski’s manager Ash Belcastro revealed the billionaire was definitely “on the invite list” for Sunday’s UFC 290 blockbuster.
He added the Facebook founder had also confirmed his interest in meeting up with the soon-to-be-father-of-three afterwards.
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So what chance Volk will be joining Team Zuck if a fight no less than UFC president Dana White keeps spruiking ever goes ahead?
“We’ve hung out with Mark and spoken to him about having a fight,” Belcastro revealed.
“This was obviously before all the Elon Musk stuff but he’s definitely open to it and Volk would definitely be there to help him.
“I know he has a lot of passion for the sport.
“When you start grappling (like Zuckerberg has), it becomes really addictive and I think he’s found a real enjoyment in that.
“He’s a really competitive guy who likes to challenge himself.”
Quizzed on the relationship that has even seen the pair engage in some light sparring together, Belcastro continued: “Mark first reached out after the third Max Holloway fight, where Volk won so convincingly even after breaking his hand in the second round.
“Zuck was really taken aback by Volk’s resilience and how he handled that. Initially he just reached out to say ‘mate, I’m so impressed’ and wanted to tap into their mindset.
“They now talk on the phone quite a bit.”
Incredibly for a country where the Octagon was still banned, at least in Western Australia, as recently as six years ago, Australia will have five fighters on the UFC 290 card this Sunday.
Apart from Volkanovski, the other major storyline belongs to Robert Whittaker, who is looking to win his way back into a title shot via tough South African Dricus Du Plessis.
Already White has said the winner of this bout will face UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in Sydney on September 10.
However, given it would require a turnaround of just nine weeks, it means Bobby Knuckles must not only win, but do so quickly and without incident to get his Adesanya trilogy.
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Elsewhere on the undercard, Jimmy Crute, Jack Della Maddalena and Shannon Ross also have fights, while in the co-main, UFC flyweight champ Brandon Moreno defends against Alexandre Pantoja.
Throw in too what is tipped to be a retirement fight for UFC great Robbie Lawler, the second appearance of Bo Nickal, and a lightweight showdown between Dan Hooker and Jalin Turner, and this card shapes as the biggest of 2023.
Atop it all too, that fella whose greatest sporting gong was once the Mick Cronin Medal — which he received as the 2010 Group 7 Player of the Year.
But with apologies to the Crow, things have now reached another stratosphere for Volk.
With the champ not only looking to retain his featherweight strap this Sunday, or earn a second shot at the lightweight variety, but reclaim his mantle, recently stolen by UFC heavyweight king Jon Jones, as the greatest fighter anywhere in the UFC.
All of which brings us full circle to Rodriguez.
A fighter that, Australian grappling star Jones warns, may be known as a striker but still possesses a host of threats on the ground – as evidenced by his submitting Josh Emmett via triangle choke at UFC 284 in February.
On the same afternoon, Volkanovski suffered a contentious decision loss against UFC lightweight champ Islam Makachev.
Apart from destroying the mystique around Dagestani wrestling, Volk was also offered an immediate rematch at ‘champ champ’ – but was told he would have to wait until October, when Makhachev is set to headline again in Abu Dhabi.
Instead, the Aussie has chosen to defend his UFC featherweight strap and, with a win, will demand another shot at joining the four fighters who have held two titles simultaneously – Conor McGregor, Amanda Nunes, Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo.
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“Yair really is an innovator on the ground,” Jones warned.
“There are a lot of Mexican fighters who have a more traditional jiu jitsu style guard game where they throw elbows, upkicks, crazy shooting submissions … they present a different challenge to the status quo.
“Yair is happy to be on his back, throwing elbows and stuff, so he’s definitely challenging in that sense.”
Jones quickly added, however, that Volkanovski was a special fighter who undoubtedly has both the IQ and athleticism to handle whatever gets thrown at him.
“And he can separate the character from the problem at hand,” the grappler continued.
“When he faces off against, say, Jose Aldo — one of the most feared strikers in featherweight history — he doesn’t see Jose Aldo.
“Instead, he just approaches things technically. Dismantles Aldo on the feet technically.
“Same with Max Holloway.
“Some people might get stumped, thinking ‘I’m from a small gym in Wollongong, how do I solve the puzzle that is Max Holloway’s striking?’.
“And it can hard to be Australian, coming from a smaller country and trying to tackle the best fighters in the world.
“But I don’t think that plays a factor in Volk’s mind at all.
“He has this belief that he can beat anyone so long as he has the right techniques.
“That’s what makes him unstoppable.
“He never gets stumped. He is virtually unbreakable out there.”
Meanwhile, speaking on his Youtube channel this week, former UFC ‘champ champ’ Henry Cejudo tipped Rodriguez to earn an upset win at UFC 290 – suggesting he was a more dangerous opponent than even Islam Makhachev, who Volk lost to last start at UFC 284.
“I know the majority of you guys are going to go with Alexander Volkanovski,” Cejudo said.
“But I do believe Yair Rodriguez is a much different fight than Islam Makhachev, and maybe for that reason I think it’s a lot tougher of a fight because this man’s going to throw a lot more kicks.
“If you take him down, he’s going to be a lot more vicious on bottom. The biggest question that I have for a guy like Yair Rodriguez: If he can tame some of that power, you don’t have to throw so much.
“I think I can easily see you outpoint this dude. You don’t (have to) knock him out – you’ve just got to outpoint him.”
