Alexander Volkanovski falls at one of MMA's toughest hurdles

One of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the UFC featherweight division nearly made history... nearly.

Illustration by Chris Rini.

I hate to paraphrase a classic Joe Rogan talking point, but the man has said a whole hell of a lot over the years, every now and then he has to hit the mark. In this case, that mark is all about how tough it is to be the longtime champ; for a fighter to ‘carry a target on their back’ year after year after year.

Eventually, any fighter that finds themselves at that level, usually four-plus title defenses into their reign starts to encounter a very particular phenomenon.

Early on in their time with the UFC, they’re the one making the charge, the one nobody is prepared for. Remember Anderson Silva coming to the Octagon and his fights against Chris Leben and Rich Franklin? They had no idea at all what was about to hit them. Most talents may not have that kind of shock value these days, where the promotion is much bigger and the path to the belt longer—but then again we’re not too far removed from Alex Pereira blitzing MW and LHW on his way to two different belts.

After that, the new champ has to claim their space. Most likely they’ve been merely one of several contenders, usually a group consisting of other former belt holders and talents who have been rising right up along side them. Their first few defenses, then, are going to be bouts of mutual interest. They’ll know just as much about their opponent as their opponent knows about them. Maybe these fighters have been side-eyeing one another for a bit, but for the bulk of their careers they’ve been focused on the stars of a previous era…