He battled it out thousands of kilometres from home, but you could have been mistaken for thinking Alex Volkanovski's fight took place inside Shellharbour's Central Hotel on Sunday.
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It was standing room only inside the pub's events centre, as hundreds of die-hard supporters - and family and friends - packed in to watch the Illawarra UFC star pummel his Brazilian rival, Jose Aldo, in Rio de Janeiro.
With eyes glued to the big screen, the crowd watched the 30-year-old's every move inside the octagon - deafening cheers, applause and whistling often ringing out.
Not surprisingly, the biggest roar came upon his unanimous-decision victory.
At that time, amid the flurry of fanfare, Alex's proud wife Emma breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad it's over,' she said, moments after his win.
"This is the first time I've actually watched it ... at a pub; I'm usually there or at home, so the atmosphere was amazing.
"He stuck to his game plan and he fought a smart fight, like he knew what he needed to do to fight Aldo and he did it.
"He didn't get careless, he didn't stray away from the game plan, he did what he had to do to get it done."
Emma was buoyed by the number of people who turned out to watch.
However, the pub crowd was missing two of Alex's littlest and most-loyal fans; his daughters, Airlie and Ariana.
"They're sort of a little bit young to understand [Alex's quest], they'll just be happy to have him home after such a long time away," she said.
"It's a lot of sacrifice that he puts into the fight camps.
"A lot of the time away, a lot of money spent ... and a lot of energy put in, but when you've got a dream you do whatever it takes to achieve that dream, and he's well on his way to getting that belt."