World champ Volkanovski leads MMA charge in the Illawarra
Illawarra’s favourite son and two-time UFC world featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski is spearheading a mixed martial arts (MMA) revolution in the area
Illawarra’s favourite son and two-time UFC world featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski is spearheading a mixed martial arts (MMA) revolution in the area.
The fighter affectionately known as Volk is scheduled to defend his world title in Sydney on February 1 against Diego Lopes.
The fight will be his first on home soil in several years and is a rematch as Volk reclaimed the vacant featherweight (145-pound or 65.8kg) title with a unanimous decision victory over Lopes at UFC 314 in 2025.
Win, lose or draw, Volk remains one of the Illawarra’s favourite elite-level athletes. He’s a mixed martial arts champion, social media star and also a bit of a bloody good cook – just ask him, or one of his 3.1 million followers on Insta, or 1.6 million followers on TikTok…
Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown presented Alex Volkanovski with the Keys to the City in May 2025. Photo: WCC.
It’s been a massive 12 months for Volk.
He received the keys to Wollongong from the city’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Tania Brown, during a public event at Wollongong Central in May last year and performed a song on-stage with US music star Jelly Roll at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in November. He's starring in a new big-screen version of the popular video game Street Fighter due to hit cinemas later this year (look for Volk at 0.28 in the trailer), and his Freestyle Fighting Gym will soon open a new premises in Shellharbour Road, Port Kembla.
Professional fighting is a notoriously tough sport and most fighters quit their career long before they hit their 40s. When the Flame spoke to Volk last year, he shrugged off any concerns about his age, saying he “definitely has a few more fights left” in him.
Now 37, Volk can also be credited with sparking and sustaining the huge popularity of MMA in the Illawarra and beyond as he is single-handedly boosting the discipline’s exposure in what is a traditional footy-focused community.
Alex Volkanovski's new Freestyle MMA Performance Centre in Port Kembla. Photos: Marcus Craft
Three of the best martial arts venues
With numerous MMA and martial arts gyms in the Illawarra, keen practitioners are spoiled for choice.
Here are three of the best:
- Freestyle Fighting Gym, Windang – 296 Windang Road (‘The Church’), Windang, with a new premises set to open soon in Shellharbour Road, Port Kembla. World-renowned MMA gym with top-level coaches in a family-friendly gym. Home to two-time UFC world featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski. (Note: the Windang gym will cease operations once the Port Kembla gym opens.)
- ADAPT Martial Arts & Boxing Academy – 234 Corrimal Street, Wollongong. Martial arts, boxing, kickboxing and more. Range of classes for ages three and up.
- Illawarra International Judo – Wyllie Rd, Kembla Grange. Welcoming and experienced instructors teach traditional judo in a family-friendly dojo.
