Alexander Volkanovski

Volkanovski again solved Lopes across five rounds, controlling range, pace and the cleaner exchanges in a wider rematch than their first title fight. Lopes remained dangerous in bursts, but Volkanovski kept the fight mostly in the lanes he wanted and banked rounds with discipline.

Key moments

• Second straight five-round decision win over Lopes.
• Controlled the rematch with cleaner distance striking and fewer scramble risks.
• Showed the same veteran adjustments that defined his first featherweight title reign.

Returning from the Topuria loss, Volkanovski outpointed Lopes over five rounds to reclaim featherweight gold.

Key moments

• Reclaimed the featherweight title after losing it to Topuria.
• Kept Lopes from turning the fight into sustained scramble chaos.
• Won a competitive but clear five-round unanimous decision.

Volkanovski opened like the champion, banking a kick-heavy first round with feints, stance changes and range work. Topuria increased the pressure in the second, backed him toward the fence and landed the decisive overhand right, ending Volkanovski's featherweight reign.

Key moments

• Topuria's pressure closed the space in round two.
• A right hand against the fence knocked Volkanovski out at 3:32.
• The loss ended one of the UFC featherweight division's defining title reigns.

Volkanovski accepted a short-notice rematch up at lightweight and paid for the risk early.

Key moments

• Moved up to lightweight on short notice for a second Makhachev fight.
• Makhachev landed the finishing head kick in round one.
• The knockout came less than four months before the Topuria title defense.

Volkanovski unified the featherweight title with a layered performance against Rodriguez. He mixed takedowns and top control with pressure striking, then hurt Rodriguez on the feet in round three and finished with ground-and-pound.

Key moments

• Unified the featherweight title against the interim champion.
• Used wrestling and top pressure to mute Rodriguez's kicking game.
• Closed the show with round-three ground-and-pound.

Volkanovski moved up to lightweight to challenge Makhachev on his home turf in Perth, Australia, and came agonizingly close to pulling off the upset. He stunned Makhachev in round two and dominated the fifth round, dropping the champion, but the judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 in Makhachev's favour.

Key moments

• Moved up a full weight class to challenge the lightweight champion.
• Stunned Makhachev with combinations in round two in a pivotal swing round.
• Dominated the final round and knocked down Makhachev, but fell short on the cards.
• Many press-row observers scored the fight for Volkanovski, making it one of the most disputed decisions of 2023.

The third Holloway fight was Volkanovski's most definitive performance of the trilogy. He controlled all five rounds with volume, counter right hands and superior defence, winning a clean 50-45 sweep despite breaking his left hand during the bout.

Key moments

• Outlanded Holloway 204-161 in total strikes despite fighting through a broken left hand.
• A big counter right opened a cut over Holloway's eye that worsened across the later rounds.
• The dominant victory settled the trilogy beyond debate.

Volkanovski made short work of the Korean Zombie across four rounds, mixing calf kicks with crisp combinations to bloody Jung and put him on the canvas in round three. Jung showed characteristic toughness coming out for round four, but two right hands prompted referee Herb Dean to step in immediately.

Key moments

• Dropped Jung with a right hand in round three and unloaded with ground strikes before the horn.
• Herb Dean stopped the fight within the first minute of round four after Volkanovski landed two more hard rights.
• Calf kicks were a consistent throughline — Volkanovski chopped the leg effectively from the opening bell.

Volkanovski won his 20th consecutive fight and made his second title defence with a wide unanimous decision over Ortega, but the fight produced one of the most dramatic rounds in UFC history. In round three Ortega dropped Volkanovski and locked in a guillotine, then transitioned to a triangle, only for Volkanovski to escape both and unload with strikes. The champion dominated rounds four and five to take the fight convincingly.

Key moments

• Round three saw Ortega drop Volkanovski and attempt both a guillotine and a triangle choke in sequence — Volkanovski escaped both.
• After surviving the submission attempts Volkanovski came back with heavy ground strikes that nearly ended round three on his terms.
• Judges scored it 49-46, 50-45 and 50-44 — a wide card once the drama of round three settled.
• The standing ovation at the end reflected the crowd's recognition of both fighters' warrior qualities.

The rematch on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi was much closer than the first fight. Holloway dropped Volkanovski in rounds one and two — with a head kick in the first and an uppercut in the second — but Volkanovski steadied himself from round three onward, took two fifth-round takedowns and did enough down the stretch to retain on a split decision.

Key moments

• Holloway dropped Volkanovski twice in the first two rounds — head kick in round one, uppercut in round two.
• Volkanovski's round-to-round adjustments and improved distance management swung the middle rounds.
• Two takedowns in the final round helped secure the fifth on the cards.
• Judges split 48-47 twice for Volkanovski and 48-47 once for Holloway — widely seen as one of the most controversial decisions of 2020.

Volkanovski dethroned the long-reigning featherweight champion with a disciplined five-round performance built on relentless leg kicks and volume. He targeted Holloway's lead leg early, forcing a mid-fight southpaw switch, and outlanded him in every round to take the belt by scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 50-45.

Key moments

• Won the featherweight title in his seventh UFC bout, dethroning Holloway in Las Vegas.
• Leg kicks were the defining weapon — Holloway switched to southpaw mid-fight to protect the lead leg.
• Outlanded Holloway in strikes in every round despite a height and reach disadvantage.
• The unanimous decision ended Holloway's era as champion and launched one of the division's most dominant reigns.

Volkanovski travelled to Rio de Janeiro and outworked a fading Jose Aldo in front of a partisan Brazilian crowd, winning a decisive 30-27 sweep. He stayed active on the feet, repeatedly strung the lead leg with low kicks and controlled Aldo in the clinch, prompting boos but never losing his composure or the fight.

Key moments

• Won 30-27 on all three cards — a clean sweep in Aldo's home arena in Rio.
• Leg kicks turned Aldo's lead leg red by the end of round one and dictated the fight's tempo.
• Clinch control and cage pressure frustrated Aldo, who was looking for a single finishing shot that never landed.

Volkanovski and Mendes traded early in an exciting opening round before the fight changed shape in round two. Mendes caught Volkanovski with a right hand that put him down, but Volkanovski rose quickly, walked Mendes down and landed a left hook to the body and a right to the chin that floored Mendes and brought the stoppage.

Key moments

• Mendes dropped Volkanovski with a right hand in round two — Volkanovski was back on his feet almost immediately.
• After surviving the knockdown Volkanovski walked Mendes into a body shot and finishing right hand.
• Mendes came in off a near-three-year layoff following a USADA suspension; this was his first defeat since Conor McGregor.

Volkanovski dominated Elkins across three rounds in Boise, nearly finishing him twice in the opening frame alone before battering him to a wide unanimous decision. He was nursing a rib injury sustained in the lead-up to the fight, which forced a more conservative approach than usual, but the outcome was never seriously in doubt.

Key moments

• Almost finished Elkins via guillotine in the opening minutes of round one.
• Dropped Elkins twice in round one and put him on wobbly legs multiple times across the fight.
• Fought through a rib injury suffered in the week before the event.

He took Kennedy down repeatedly and battered him with short elbows and punches from top position, earning the TKO stoppage with just three seconds left in round two.

Key moments

• Took Kennedy down at will and controlled the majority of the fight from top position.
• The TKO came at 4:57 of round two — three seconds from the bell.
• A statement performance in front of his home crowd ahead of the Elkins fight.

Volkanovski made his second UFC appearance in Auckland and pushed Hirota to the brink of a stoppage in round one, flooring the veteran with a right hand and following with heavy ground-and-pound before Hirota survived to the bell. He went on to control rounds two and three and took a clean 30-27 sweep on all cards.

Key moments

• Nearly finished Hirota in round one with a right hand knockdown and ground-and-pound barrage.
• Hirota's durability carried him to the final bell but Volkanovski won every round on every card.
• Hirota had not lost since 2013 coming into the bout.

Volkanovski won the PXC Featherweight Championship in Guam, submitting Yachi with a triangle choke in the fourth round. The fight went longer than most of his regional bouts, but the submission finish in a championship bout in Guam showed his grappling versatility beyond pure striking.

Key moments

• Won the Pacific Xtreme Combat featherweight title with a fourth-round submission.
• Triangle choke finish demonstrated grappling capability beyond his well-known striking game.
• Event held at the University of Guam Fieldhouse in Mangilao, Guam.

Volkanovski won the Pacific Xtreme Combat featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Kyle Reyes at PXC 45 in Guam.

Key moments

• Won the Pacific Xtreme Combat featherweight championship — a major regional title.
• Unanimous decision, demonstrating the ability to pace and control a full three-round championship bout.
• Event held in Guam, part of Volkanovski's early Pacific-region competition.
• Combined with his later PXC 50 title defence to show two-fight PXC championship success.

Volkanovski submitted Bradney with a rear-naked choke late in the first round at Roshambo MMA 3. It was the first of two victories over Bradney on the Australian regional circuit, and the submission finish highlighted the well-rounded game Volkanovski was developing.

Key moments

• Rear-naked choke finish at 4:58 of round one — near the end of the opening round.
• First meeting with Bradney; they would fight again in 2016 with a similar outcome.
• Submission victory on the Wollongong-based Roshambo MMA series.

Volkanovski knocked out Rodolfo Marques Diniz in the first round at Australian FC 9, continuing a productive 2014 campaign on the Australian regional circuit.

Key moments

• First-round knockout at 3:41, a clean punch stoppage.
• Part of an active 2014 stretch that included four fights and regional title wins.
• Australian FC was one of the main domestic Australian promotions Volkanovski competed for.
• Kept his finishing rate high heading into the PXC title chase later in the year.

Volkanovski submitted Atzori with a guillotine choke in the first round at Roshambo MMA 2, kicking off an active 2014 year.

Key moments

• First-round guillotine choke — the same submission type he had also attempted in his Elkins UFC fight.
• Opened 2014 with a finish that set the tone for a four-fight year.
• Roshambo MMA was a Wollongong-based promotion on the Australian regional scene.

The fight went three rounds before punches brought the stoppage late, showing his persistence and capacity to wear opponents down.

Key moments

• First fight after the Corey Nelson loss — an important bounce-back performance.
• Third-round TKO, later in the fight than most of his early stoppages, showing durability and patience.
• Fought at Australian FC, one of the main domestic promotions developing Australian talent.

Volkanovski earned a first-round doctor's stoppage over Regan Wilson at Cage Conquest 2 in early 2013. The early finish via doctor stoppage indicated Volkanovski had already done enough damage to end the fight through a cut or injury, even before the opponent was formally stopped by strikes.

Key moments

• Doctor stoppage at 2:49 of round one — fight ended on medical grounds rather than a referee stoppage by strikes.
• Part of a three-fight burst in early 2013 before the Nelson fight.
• Competed on the Cage Conquest series on the Australian regional circuit.