Yet, that worthy day of celebration aside, many around the Illawarra will be crammed into pubs and clubs for a whole other reason.

They will be watching a local hero compete on the international stage in the most important fight of his life. That local is Alex Volkanovski.

In the space of a few short years, Volkanovski has gone from a rugby league player with the Warilla Gorillas to an international superstar of mixed martial arts.

It has been a meteoric rise, but one of blood, sweats ... and we're not sure about the tears.

On Sunday afternoon, Australian time, he will fight UFC star Jose Aldo, a living legend of the sport.

The fight, one of Aldo's last, will be held in front of about 15,000 fans cheering for their Brazilian hero in the city of Rio de Janeiro

Conversely, Volkanovski's close network of family and friends will be gathered in Shellharbour.

Among those people in Shellharbour will be one nervous wreck.

Emma Volkanovski simply can't wait for it all to be over and to have her husband home.

And who can blame her.

"I'll win this and fight and it'll be huge, celebrations all that stuff, but I come back home and I'm just dad, I play that daddy life," Alex told the Illawarra Mercury's Mitch Jennings before leaving for Brazil.

A win might mean her husband can stay closer to home and possibly have a title fight on Australian turf. Everything hinges on how Sunday pans out.

Too many in this region, Alex Volkanovski is a local hero.

He is hugely popular and was a hands down winner of the People's Choice Award in the Illawarra Mercury Sports Person of the Year.

The Illawarra region will be right behind their people's champ.

To Alex, and his family, we say good luck champ. Go well from the team the Illawarra Mercury