FREESTYLE Fighting Gym's mixed martial arts fighter Alex Volkanovski hopes a win over reigning featherweight world champion Yusuke Yachi will be the final piece in the jigsaw that will enable him to break into the prestigious Ultimate Fighting Championship.
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Volkanovski is training two to three times a day, six days a week for the August 7 Pacific Xtreme Combat title fight in Guam, and is full of confidence.
"I am training full-time now and just chasing the UFC dream, which I believe is not too far away," he said.
"I have always been into martial arts. I have watched UFC since I was a kid and I used to wrestle when I was younger."
Volkanovski played rugby league for Warilla-Lake South Gorillas for 14 years and was named Man of the Match in his side's 36-6 win over Gerringong in the 2011 first grade grand final.
He took out the Michael Cronin Medal as player of the year the previous season, but felt instead he had a bright future in fighting.
"I think I had gone as far as I could in league, and had actually started some fights during the year and thought I would give it (MMA) a crack and, within four years, I have an opportunity to win a world title."
He has been in great form leading up to the fight and boasts a 10-1 win-loss record, including six knockouts. He recently won the Australian Fighting Championships featherweight title.
The UFC is his ultimate dream and he has been to Thailand several times to train as a scholarship fighter at the Tiger Muay Thai Gym in Phuket.
Yachi will be a great test for the man known as "The Hulk".
"He has a 12-3 record, has fought a lot of tough guys and is one of the best in Asia."
Volkanovski has a strong Facebook and Twitter presence to help push his UFC claims.
"I have been trying to get on top of marketing and working really hard to get a big following," he said.
"I feel like I have been getting better and better each day with training ... (but) there is still a lot of room for improvement."
But he won't be happy to just make it to the UFC.
"If and when I get there, I won't be happy to just make up the numbers - I want to be No.1 and, if I get there as world champion, I will be the first UFC fighter to hold a world championship MMA belt."
There is other excitement for his family as his wife Emma is expecting their first child in October.
