Michael Jordan was violently ill before game five of the 1997 NBA finals, but somehow played through severe discomfort to score 38 points and give the Chicago Bulls a 3-2 lead over the Utah Jazz, setting them up to win the series in their next game.
Nearly 30 years later, it’s still talked about. The ‘Flu Game’ was one of Jordan’s most memorable performances, and a core moment in his own sporting mythology – even though, as it turned out, he actually had food poisoning, not the flu.
Alexander Volkanovski has just produced his own version, one that might soon be looked back upon the same way.
Days out from his UFC featherweight title defence against previously undefeated Russian contender Movsar Evloev, Volkanovski was feeling rough. His breathing was heavy, to the point where he was genuinely worried he might not last five rounds. It was later revealed that he was suffering from a chest infection.
He was offered medication that was perfectly legal to take, but Volkanovski was worried it might somehow be perceived as giving him an unfair advantage.
And he liked the idea of making things harder for himself. So he refused.
“Not many people, I guess, would choose to do that,” he said on Monday, hinting that there was “more to the story” which he’ll tell another day.
“I looked at it as more of a challenge. I was like, ‘No, no, I like the idea of this being more of a challenge.’ I’m just weird like that. Put it this way: my team weren’t happy with me, but I guess they’re not surprised as well.
“Most people would probably panic and freak out. I’ll look at it like, ‘Hey, when this story is told, it’s just going to make that so much better.’ And that’s how it was.”
Indeed, what followed was, by his own assessment, the greatest moment of Volkanovski’s great career to date.
Volkanovski saw off Evloev with a second-round TKO finish at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, his record ninth featherweight title-fight win – and he got it done quickly, just as he’d promised his wife, Emma, as a belated anniversary present.
Hours later, he was back in Sydney, his belt proudly draped over his shoulder next to a shimmering diamond necklace, his face looking only slightly worse for wear, still coughing through the remnants of his illness.
“I think it has to be right up there. I really do think it’s right up there,” he said. “Undefeated fighter … you know what? Yeah, I’ll probably say that tops it, to be quite honest.”
So, what’s next?
Volkanovski is obviously much closer to the end than the beginning; had he taken much damage against Evloev, he might have been talking about his retirement plans on Monday, rather than celebrating his latest victory.
Such is his exalted status now in the UFC world, Volkanovski is in the envious position of being able to effectively call the shots, and nominate his next challenge.
“I had a good chat with the bosses of UFC, Dana White and Hunter Campbell,” Volkanovski said.
“You’ve got those guys even saying publicly that, ‘What Alex wants, we’ll give him. We’re not really going to say no to Alex.’ They don’t usually say those types of things.”
Top of his list is Justin Gaethje, the reigning UFC lightweight champion.
Volkanovski has never held belts in two weight classes before; his only concern was that he would be seen to be “cutting the line” ahead of other lightweights. But Gaethje is 37, and the idea of both of them retiring afterwards and vacating their belts, so as to not hold up their respective divisions, appeals greatly to ‘Volk’.
And so does the idea of doing it in Sydney, if he can convince White and Campbell.
“Let these two old fellas go have a crack, and then we can just sail off in the sunset. I just feel like that’s something that’s never been done, a cool story, and I think that’ll be great for the UFC,” he said.
The word “story” came up a lot on Monday. Volkanovski is happy to let others worry about titles, numbers, statistics, legacies and the GOAT debate; he is only chasing new chapters that will transcend and resonate with people at a deeper level.
For all his achievements, Volkanovski acknowledges that mixed martial arts still occupies a different, slightly obscured place in the Australian consciousness to more traditional sports. His wildly popular cooking channel on YouTube and other long-form videos have helped him reach a broader audience, one that doesn’t necessarily care about what he does inside the octagon.
As long as people are connecting with him, whichever way they’re doing that, Volkanovski is content.
“This is a different sport, and I get that. I’ve tried my best to change it, and change people’s perceptions of the sport,” he said. “But it’s all good. I like that people know me outside of that as well. I’m not too fussed. Either way, they know who I am as a person.”
Whenever this story is finished, it deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest this country has seen in sport.
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