Sam Bruce Oct 21, 2026, 09:00 AM ET

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Sam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPN after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia's digital rugby coverage.

Retirement, for all professional athletes no matter their craft, is inevitable.

But as the next phase of Alexander Volkanovski 's life peeks up from beyond the horizon, the UFC featherweight champion says he will deliver a performance at UFC 333 that leaves MMA fans in awe.

"You guys will come out of this being like that's one of Volk's best performances. That's the best way for me to put it," Volkanovski told ESPN after wrapping up a session at the new home of Freestyle MMA.

The gym, which is around 10 times the size of coach Joe Lopez's former premises, is a symbol of the duo's amazing journey from relative MMA obscurity to, at one point, the top of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.

Volkanovski now sits at No.…