UFC 290: Alex Volkanovski’s team shares their secrets as he prepares for title defence

Waiting to drive to training, a smile spreads across his face as the featherweight champion of the world gets a reminder of why he does this.

“The bigger picture is my family,” Volkanovski tells Code Sports about his often hectic travel and training schedule.

Six weeks ahead of his fight with Yair Rodriguez, which headlines UFC 290 this weekend, Volkanovski was in Puerto Rico, filming a podcast and YouTube content with Logan Paul.

Even then, he was thinking about his wife, Emma, and their two daughters.

“I’m always thinking, ‘I need to get back to training’, or, ‘I need to get back to my family’, because I am a family man,” he said. “I am always focused on things, so sometimes I don’t get to capture those moments.”

With long stretches away from home, Volkanovski leans heavily on his team. Each member has been there every step of the way as the Wollongong local went from fighting on prelims to headlining the biggest card of the year.

Coach Joe Lopez is the godfather, the leader and the one everybody else listens to. He’s the man behind the man, gets angry if the crew ever runs late for training and doesn’t mind playing ‘bad cop’ to Volkanovski’s genuinely laid back demeanour.

“We go out, and everyone wants a photo and a chat, and you think it’s only a minute, but when you get 20 of those, it’s 20 minutes,” Lopez says.

“All of a sudden you’re running late for training. I always play the bad guy and say we’ve gotta move. He hates to disappoint anybody, whereas I don’t care.”

As the Mercedes pulls out into the late afternoon traffic, Volkanovski’s manager, Ash Belcastro, starts rapping along to Drake’s Draft Day: “suits and ties yelling out ‘pay them guys’.”

It’s the philosophy the Aussie with big ambitions approaches his job with.

Belcastro pulls the strings behind the scenes, organising fights, interview opportunities, sponsorship deals and meetings with some of the most recognisable faces on the planet.

Proving Volkanovski’s star power once again, he has just linked up with Logan Paul and KSI’s new energy drink Prime, which last week signed-on to become FC Barcelona’s official drink partner.

Belcastro played a key role in linking Volkanovski up with tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg too, and there are plans for Volk to meet up with the Facebook founder after his fight.

Organising Volk’s team to travel from the hotel to training, 15 minutes away, can be a logistical nightmare, but each training partner is there for a specific reason as the featherweight champion prepares for one of his most dangerous and unorthodox opponents.

Craig Jones gives unrivalled Jiu Jitsu expertise, and 11-time Taekwondo world champion Carl van Roon is mimicking Rodriguez’s striking style. Auckland’s Mike ‘Blood’ Diamond and Sydney fighter Colby Thicknesse are hungry future stars on the rise and dietician Jordan Sullivan oversees all meal prep during the weight cut.

Dan Hooker has his own fight this weekend against Jalin Turner – who missed weight by two pounds on Saturday and was docked 20 percent of his fight purse – but is a welcome addition whenever he’s around. A nine year veteran with 20 fights in the UFC, the unflappable and endlessly entertaining Hooker brings a light-hearted vibe, but knows it’s war when the cage doors close.

American wrestling coach Frank Hickman is one of the longest-serving members of Volk’s inner-circle. ‘Franky Angles’ keeps it light by stirring the pot, and razzing old mates and new acquaintances with a mischievous grin.

City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman, who will work Volkanovski’s corner this weekend, arrives a few days after the rest of the team. and is the one who organises their traditional ‘Wing Noight’ fight week feed.

No one can remember when they started going out as a team for chicken wings during fight week, but it has become a staple of the itinerary whenever Volkanovski or any of the City Kickboxing team fight.

“Since as long as men have been fighting, they’ve been having wing night two days before,” laughs Hooker.

It’s become a popular way to break up the monotony and nerves of fight week, and Bareman usually makes the final call on where and when wing night is.

“Half the boys like Hooters, and half the boys like Buffalo Wild Wings,” Hickman says. “It’s contentious.

Hooker says he’s a Hooters man, but he and Volk can’t indulge this week because of their weight cuts.

A man who loves his steak and films regular ‘Cooking with Volk’ episodes on his YouTube channel, you can almost see Volkanovski salivating when talking about wing night.

“It’s usually before weigh-ins, which I remember because I’m never allowed to have any,” Volkanovski says. “The beauty of America is you come here and there’s a million different sauces, with no calories, and no sodium, so they’re doing something good.

“I won’t do it, but Jordy will make my own…but those chicken wings are goooood.”