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It’s official, Alex Volkanovski is the best of the best in UFC.
On Tuesday, the UFC announced the Australian had become the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter across all divisions.
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Volkanovski, the featherweight champion, was elevated from No. 2 in the rankings following welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s shock defeat to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 on the weekend.
Usman been the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter until he was knocked out cold by a stunning leg kick by Edwards that no one saw coming.
He now falls to No. 4 in the rankings behind Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya and Charles Oliveira.
“Alexander Volkanovski continues to emerge as the best fighting talent Australia has ever produced,” said Peter Kloczko, UFC Vice President Australia & New Zealand.
“His accomplishments put him on-par with any great Australian athlete or sporting achievement – and what’s special is each time we see him compete, we see a better version.”
Volkanovski has dominated the featherweight class and stamped his mark on the division with two epic victories in the past 12 months — over Brian Ortega and his most recent win against Max Holloway in their trilogy fight.
Earlier this year, he also put on a clinic against Jung Chan-sung, aka Korean Zombie, in a performance that prompted fans to call him the greatest featherweight fighter of all time.
The 33-year-old has long been underrated by the MMA masses but the prestigious No. 1 pound-for-pound rankings is well deserved recognition for his performances in the octagon.
Volkanovski has vowed to stay active and fight as often as he can after the pandemic prevented him from travelling to America to contest fights.
Earlier this year he signalled his intention to go up a division to lightweight and become a double champ, with the goal of becoming the “GOAT of UFC”.
“We talk about goals, right,” Volkanovski told news.com.au in February.
“I want to be the GOAT, not just the featherweight goat. I want to be the GOAT of the UFC. The sky’s the limit.”
“I’m not just going, ‘I want to take out that double champ and then see you later’.
“I want to hold both belts and be a double champ for a while and really earn that GOAT status.”
Volkanovski has made no secret of his desire to take on lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in the near future.
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