Nina Marie Daniele is to the UFC what Stuart Scott was to the NBA—sharp, savvy, and always serving fans the stories they didn’t know they needed. From behind-the-scenes scoops to fighter quirks, she’s making the UFC essential viewing in this evolving era of combat sports. In her latest mic-drop moment, the former Playboy model steps into the ring with ex-featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski—dragging him across the as ‘The Great’ hilariously drops a bombshell about the origins of his iconic nickname.
In her latest endeavor, Nina Marie Daniele stepped into the ring for a playful sparring session with Alexander Volkanovski. While joking about fighting styles, ‘The Great’ allowed himself to be dragged around by ‘Nina Drama’ as the former Playboy model enjoyed her time training with Volkanovski. As Volkanovski settled himself, he added that he actually did the exact same thing to one of his opponents, “You know, I have actually done that. He started going back out, and I grabbed his leg and I pulled him back in.”
After that playful banter, Marie Daniele asked the former featherweight champion an intriguing question: “What was your nickname? ‘The Volk’? Now, all of you might be wondering what an absurd question that was—I mean, everyone knows Volkanovski’s nickname is ‘The Great,’ right? Well, that wasn’t always the case. The Aussie revealed, “I was called ‘The Hulk.’”
He further added, “Yes, Alex ‘The Hulk’ back in the day. Yeah, but I mean, a featherweight shouldn’t be called Hulk, so I changed it.” ‘The Hulk’ seems quite fitting for Alexander Volkanovski, if you ask us. The former featherweight champion was unstoppable in his early days. The Aussie was undefeated under the Roshambo MMA banner. He held a 4-1 record in the Australian Fighting Championship, and as for his UFC career, he currently stands at 13-3.
So, why did he change his nickname to ‘The Great’? It was a tribute to his parents. Alexander Volkanovski’s nickname can be traced back to the great Macedonian king, Alexander the Great. Given that his father is Macedonian and his mother is Greek, he gave himself the nickname as a nod to both his heritage and the historical figure. The fighter is looking to reclaim his title. His, fans think that he’s past his prime days, but fellow Aussie Robert Whittaker begs to differ.
Robert Whittaker defends Alexander Volkanovski against popular narrative
Alexander Volkanovski is 1-3 in his last four fights; his back-to-back knockout defeats against Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria changed the timeline of the featherweight division. After a year of hiatus, the former featherweight champion will be returning to the Octagon to fight for the featherweight title once again against the up-and-coming Diego Lopes at UFC 314. As the Aussie prepares for the fight, many within the community have raised concerns about a “washed-up” Volkanovski.
Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and other former champions have never been the same after losing their titles. Fans believe that Alexander Volkanovski might be the next addition in the list of fallen greats. However, Robert Whittaker thinks otherwise: “Let me clear it straight away, I am going for Volk. So, everything is going to be colored in green and gold, alright. I think the million-dollar question is—what Volk are we going to see in the Octagon come that night, come UFC 314?” Whittaker said on the MMArcade Podcast.
He further added, “Everyone was already talking about his losses to Makhachev—his knockout, and then back on to the knockout with Topuria, back on to his age. And as MMA fans like to do, as soon as he lost, they started throwing his age around and calling him a wash, which is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. MMA fans are the best and worst of us as people, they are.”
With a career record of 26 victories and only 4 defeats, Alexander Volkanovski has one of the most stacked resumes in the entire UFC, and it would be unwise to rule him out yet. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that even the greatest fighters start to decline after horrible setbacks. Given that, how do you think he’ll fare at UFC 314? State your opinion in the comments below.
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