Number three in the UFC heavyweight rankings, Russian mixed martial artist Alexander Volkov has one of the most iconic nicknames in all of combat sports. An experienced fighter with forty-eight fights with only ten defeats to his name, ‘Drago’ is all geared up to go one-on-one against his next opponent, Ciryl Gane, at UFC 310 on December 7th.

With a title shot most possibly being the next fight if he defeats #2 ranked Ciryl Gane, ‘Drago’ would be trying his best to live up to his nickname. But are you aware of how he got this moniker in the first place? If not, we have all the answers for you.

What is the meaning and origin behind Alexander Volkov’s nickname ‘Drago’?

There’s rarely a fight fan in the world who hasn’t watched the 1985 classic Rocky IV. If you have, you must be familiar with the iconic antagonist of the film, the Russian boxer Ivan Drago (played by Dolph Lundgren). A ruthless and emotionless boxer who is towering tall above the rest and the blonde-haired behemoth is obsessed with triumph and is indifferent about anything other than winning. Well, according to Volkov, his nickname is derived from this iconic character. But was it his ruthlessness that got him this moniker? Well, not exactly. He revealed in an interview that back when he moved to the United States about 11 or 12 years ago, people found it hard to pronounce his nickname. So they decided to call him Drago since he too was tall and had no beard.

“Originally, this name I take when I first time was in the US, here. It will be 12 years ago, or maybe 11 years ago. And then I come, people here say that I look exactly like the Drogo because this time I not had beard. I was a little bit younger and, uh, like a little bit of the same style. And the Alexander Volkov was a little bit difficult name for American people or something, and they just gave me this name.”

However, now Volkov believes that he no longer looks like Drago. So if one has to call him by a different moniker, it should be of an iconic Star Wars character instead. “Just about, I’m looking like, uh, like him. So I don’t know; now I’m just, uh, looking like Obi-Wan Kenobi or something.” So now that you know about his amazing moniker, let’s find out more unknown facts about the UFC #3 ranked heavyweight.

Other unknown facts about Alexander Volkov

Alexander Volkov’s little family

Alexander Volkov is married to Vita Volkova. They first met in 2013 and dated for three years before marrying on August 20, 2016. Although Drago’s Instagram feed is largely filled with his own professional photos, Vita frequently posts photos of herself having fun with her spouse. However, their joy multiplied tenfold when they were blessed with two lovely babies. In November 2018, two years after their marriage, the couple welcomed a baby son. Vita gave birth to another son in 2022, marking the couple’s second child.

His wife is an entrepreneur

Alexander Volkov is earning some serious money in life. While he surely must be getting paid a lot by Dana White for being one of the biggest fighters in the UFC, his wife too is bringing home a lot of money by being a successful entrepreneur. In fact, she runs not one but two organizations. Her first business is all about dealing in oral hygiene products and is called ‘Dental Volk Technologies.’ Her other venture is called ‘VICARE.’ However, little is known about her second business.

Alexander Volkov’s samurai tattoo

‘Drago’ has a gigantic samurai helmet tattooed on his back, depicting the conflict between life and death. When Volkov met Walt Harris at UFC 254, fans got to see his tattoo for the first time. Maxim Kislitsyn, the tattoo artist, uploaded a photo of his work, which took him 55 hours to complete.

In the caption of the post, he wrote, “Worked on the back of professional UFC fighter @volkov_alex. This is an incredibly resilient man. Very tightly tattooed for 2 weeks, and the result is 55 hours of work. Thanks for the trust and strength of character 💪🏻. I wish you success in your fights and never stop!!! Sanya, you are awesome 🤛🏻P.S. After October, there will be a serious correction to hide the stingray as much as possible.”

‘Drago’ the knockout artist

While the heavyweight division has seen some great names such as Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, and Tom Aspinall, Volkov too has left a massive mark on the sport. But how? Well, that’s by becoming one of the best knockout artists in the UFC. Out of his 48 MMA fights so far, Alexander Volkov managed to win twenty-four of these via knockouts. If that wasn’t enough, at least fifteen of these TKOs/KOs came in the very first round of his fights. Now that he is gearing up to face Ciryl Gane, his fans would be hoping that ‘Drago’ gets his twenty-fifth knockout win at UFC 310. What do you think? Will Volkov win the bout? Let us know in the comments.