Ain't no mountain high enough for reigning featherweight king Volkanovski

Wollongong's fighting pride was 13-1, and undefeated at featherweight, before even getting his first UFC start in 2016.

He put together a seven-fight win-streak with wins over two-time title challenger Chade Mendes and all-time great Jose Aldo - in Brazil no less - before getting his first crack at then champion Max Holloway.

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Before that he had to watch veteran Frankie Edgar jump the line and take on Holloway in July 2019, though he went to Canada and made weight just in case.

It's why he's now the reigning featherweight king, with two victories over Max Holloway and a dramatic defence against Brian Ortega last December.

When the news that Holloway had been forced out of a third bout with Volkanovski dropped in January, half the division flocked to social media to put their hand up - and not all that respectfully.

For Volkanovski, it shows why he's a different beast to the would-be contenders.

"As soon as I saw all that, I said 'that's why I'm going to be on top for a long time'," Volkanovski said.

"You've got this bunch of pansies trying to get the easy way to the title and trying to hand-pick things and have everything fall into place for them.

"Everyone ranked 1-10 was calling me out, even guys outside it. They all came out of the woodwork and were all whinging about not getting it.

"You had all these guys just screaming, hoping they get a title shot given to them coming off losses. If I was coming off a loss, you wouldn't hear me screaming my name out, but these guys literally expected it.

"They want shit given to them. They don't want to climb this mountain that they need to reach me at the top, they want to wait around and not do what they need to do.

"That's what separates me from these guys. They take that mentality into the gym. With that mentality, even if they get lucky and somehow get in that octagon with me, they're going to melt like butter."

The frenzy came in response to Volkanovski's call out of 'Korean Zombie' Chan Sun Jung for a showdown at UFC 273 on April 10.

For Volkanovski, the No. 4 ranked Sun Jung was next in line as the only top five contender coming off a victory. The queue matters for a guy who's long stated a desire to fully cleanout the division.

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Lockdowns and his own bout of COVID have slowed his progress in doing so but, for the former concreter, the Korean veteran is the next man up.

"There's so many guys in the division that are just one fight away from it," he said.

"Max was going to get it because he proved he was the next guy, but it shows how deep the division is.

"Zombie was lucky in a sense given [Holloway's] injury and the timing of it, where he is in the rankings, coming off a win. I feel like it's a good legacy fight for me because he's a legend of the division.

"He's been around forever, everyone knows who he is and he's been at the top. It's probably his last chance to have a crack at the belt and it fell into place for him.

"I was lucky in a sense, without this would I have got the chance to face him and get that notch on the belt? Probably not. He's been at the top of the game for a long time so its good to get this for a legacy fight."

To the naked eye, Sun Jung doesn't present the same puzzles as the cerebral volume striking of Holloway, or crafty jiu-jitsu of Ortega.

He has earned his 'Zombie' moniker for a willingness to enage in all-out war, which is what Volkanovski is expecting on fight-night.

"That's why this is a fun fight. It's MMA and he's a dangerous guy," Volkanovski said.

"He's finished a lot of guys so you've got to give him that respect, but my style covers a lot of grounds. I don't need to find a new strategy for anything, that's why I've got a lot of freedom in there and it's something you're going to see.

"You can't be careless but, where I'm at right now, I'm at a whole other level. I'm going to go out there and wipe the floor with him, and that's not a knock on him, it's just where I'm at.

"You could talk to anyone, Joe (Lopez), my training partners, Eugene (Bareman) who came over here a couple of weeks ago, they're all saying 'shit, this is the best and sharpest I've ever seen him'.

"I'm on a whole other level and, unfortunately for Zombie, it's going to right place but wrong time for him."

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