Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski may be waiting for his next title defense, but that hasn’t stopped him from having some fun — particularly at the expense of one of his biggest fans.
Recently, Volkanovski teamed up with The Unscripted Show to prank the show’s video editor, Ben, a diehard “Volk” supporter.
“Our video editor Ben is the biggest Volk fan you’ll ever meet, so we organized a little surprise — a chance to meet his hero,” the host explained.
“But what Ben doesn’t know is that Volk is also in on the prank. So, you know what? Let’s have a friendly wrestle, maybe fake an injury or two, and let’s see Ben’s dream turn into his worst nightmare. Let’s go.”
The plan was simple: let Ben roll with the champ, then make him think he hurt Volkanovski.
Sure enough, after some light grappling, Ben nearly locked in a rear-naked choke when Volkanovski tapped and suddenly clutched his neck in pain. Ben immediately froze, horrified that he had just injured his favorite fighter.
“Nah, sorry. Yeah, it’s just the neck,” Volk said while selling the fake injury. “It’s not your fault, I just got a cortisone in it. It was my fault anyways. I was shooting, I shouldn’t have done that … there’s a nerve down my arm.”
As Ben panicked and the crew pretended to call Volk’s manager, the champ finally cracked and revealed it was all a prank. Relief washed over Ben, who had just gone from dream meet-up to nightmare scenario and back again in minutes.
Watch the full clip below:
Poor fella — but classic Volk.
Volkanovski was last in action at UFC 314, where he reclaimed his 145-pound title. He’s expected to return this December, with red-hot contender Lerone Murphy — fresh off a brutal knockout win over Aaron Pico — likely waiting in the wings.
