On The Road: UFC 298 for Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski
On the 10th Feb 2024 we set off to Orange County California for UFC 298 for Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski to defend his featherweight time for the 6th time in a reign that had spanned >1500 days.
Joining us for this trip for his first fight week adventure was the one and only Chris Jaffrey. Jaff has been one of the cornerstones of our performance team over the past 10 years, and has spent every session in the gym with Volk since I first met Volk when his back and body were really giving him trouble. It’s no secret that I feel the skills and egoless brilliance of Jaff is one of the key ingredients to any success I’ve been fortunate enough to experience in my career over the years, so having him on the plane for this Californian adventure was a nice additional to the touring party.
For a nice change, there were no connecting flights needed, so we arrived in LA in time for an afternoon stroll and then some pretty epic VIP tickets to the LA Kings home game at Staples Arena. After cheering the Kings on to a win with none other than Will Ferrel in the crowd with us, we headed to home base in the hills of Orange County for a 1am arrival. All in all a pretty massive 33 hours first day of travelling before finally hitting a bed.
This camp had been flawless. After finally having his elbow surgery in late 2023, Volk was back to his menacing and powerful best. His strength and raw numbers were at all time highs, and his physicality was at a level that had all of us in the medical and performance space shaking our heads at just what this man was capable of.
Craig Jones, Frank Hickmans and Joe Lopez were all there as usual to fine tune the last week of training, and being the headline fight for UFC 298 meant the standard amount of controlled chaos that is media and distractions. That said, I am yet to see anyone on the planet handle themselves with such grace and humility as Volk, and never would anyone feel that they are a hindrance to him, despite him cutting 7 kg and drinking > 8L of water a day for his water loading meaning he was constantly in a state of uncomfortableness. The peoples champ couldn’t be more accurate.
During the week we once gain had NBA Champion Jamal Murray join us for some training sessions – another world champion who continues to chase knowledge and learning and someone who adds a level of shared experience and professionalism around the group.
On media day we were all there to witness the return of ‘Old Volk’ who had been such a hit with the Sports Bet marketing campaign. Old Volk had the place in stitches and truly became a viral moment.
The weight cut is always tough, there’s no other way to describe watching a friend and someone you spend literally hundreds of hours with a year push his body to brink. Luckily for us we have the absolute best in the business Jordi Sullivan – aka The Fight Dietician there to manage and control the process. It doesn’t matter how many times you witness this up close, it never looks anything except horrendous – but Volk Jordi and Frank for moral support just get it done with no fuss and no stress – at least none shown externally.
As always Volk was right on weight first time and then it was time to refuel and reload. This is the only part of the week that appeals to me…
Fight night was a bit surreal.
We were there for Alex to retain his belt – that was the top, and only priority for the trip. However there is always a bit of Hollywood around the UFC, and when you are there with the most dominant World Champion and GOAT then you have to be ready for the chaos that comes with the circus.
And of course there was the (captured on video) dressing room awkward moment with me getting in the way of the cameras for Mark (Meta) Zuckerberg’s appearance in the backstage dressing room.
So this brings us to the fight itself, and one thing that isn’t well known, is that for all of Volk’s fights, I am normally in the dressing room by myself or with on 1-2 others watching the fight on a tiny TV often with no sound.
We farewell the 5 of them (Alex and the 4 cornerman) and then remain in the bowels of the arena waiting for them to return. This is far from the glamour of the UFC production and although we can hear the crown – or more accurately feel the vibration of it – we are very alone and this is when the anxious energy and nerves are out of control.
All of this changes in an instant when Jake and I had to watch the heartbreaking and dramatic moment Ilia Topuria landed that puncher’s chance on Volk’s chin. This fight was immediately over and the UFC staff are hollering for me to make my way to the medical area to receive Alex and now we kick in to protective detail to escort and support Volk through the process. Every fight normally ends with some manner of trip to our good friend (the_ufc_doctor) – check out his work on Instagram, but tonight the mood was very different. After the 4 months build up following the short notice fight and subsequent knock out in Abhu Dahbi in October 2023, the immediate concern for our team was Alex and his wellbeing. An almost paternal protectiveness was my most memorable emotion, knowing he was on the other side of the world from his loved ones and family and that the world was watching every movement that came next. The obligations at this level to media and sponsors meant Alex had to front the press <45 mins after being knocked unconscious, so the team rallied around to ensure the mood and environment was as tight and supportive as possible.
The good times in sport (like life?) are easy, it’s the tough times when you stress test your inner circle and looking around the bus as we left Anaheim Arena, there wasn’t anywhere else or any other team that I would feel as confident in. ‘Until the wheels fall off’ is the perfect saying, and the comeback is always better after the setback.
So the trip that had a constant backdrop of scenes and soundtracks from the OC and California Dreaming was one that will always be remembered, not necessarily for the result for Alex, but as a group we can certainly feel blessed for the journey.
