UFC Champion Alex Volkanovski Had Surgery on Arm Injury, Will Rehab for 6 Weeks

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is doing well after undergoing surgery on his left arm Monday.

Volkanovski's manager, Ash Belcastro, relayed the news to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani.

"UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski had surgery on his left arm yesterday," Helwani tweeted.

"His manager Ash Belcastro told me all went well. He just needs six weeks of rehab and then straight back to full contact training. He's been dealing with that injury for a year, he said, and it became "unbearable" during this fight camp."

Volkanovski just defended and unified the UFC featherweight championship after defeating Yair Rodriguez via third-round TKO on July 8.

Volkanovski recently rolled to a 22-match win streak that included four featherweight title defenses and an initial win for the belt against UFC Hall of Famer José Aldo in 2019. He then tried his hand at gunning for the lightweight title and gave a great effort against Islam Makhachev before falling via unanimous decision in February.

Despite the arm injury, the 34-year-old bounced back in a big way in July. He won the first two rounds against Rodriguez on all three judges' scorecards before finishing off the match at 4:19 of the third round. Volkanovski earned 66 significant strikes to Rodriguez's 40 and earned seven takedowns to his opponent's zero, per UFC Stats.

With the win, Volkanovski earned the top spot on ESPN MMA's men's pound-for-pound rankings. He's tied with heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones on the UFC men's pound-for-pound list.