Hawks spar with UFC Champ

Training looked and felt different for the Illawarra Hawks on Wednesday with a visit from UFC Featherweight Champion, and Wollongong local, Alex Volkanovski.

Volkanovski, who is a diehard Hawks fan, dropped by the club’s training in a promotional shoot for Kayo’s coverage of the NBL season.

While the UFC champion won’t be pulling on an NBL jersey anytime soon, he didn’t hide his impressive half court shooting efforts.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Don&#39;t mess with the <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/alexvolkanovski?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alexvolkanovski</a> has them ready ?<br><br>Wrestling, grappling, striking. The <a href="https://twitter.com/UFC_AUSNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UFC_AUSNZ</a> featherweight champ put the Hawks through their paces.<br><br>Catch the NBL season live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/2wZtgIb1q7">pic.twitter.com/2wZtgIb1q7</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1463687830337515521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“They showed me a couple little tricks to shoot. They had good tips but it wasn’t working out well for me for some reason, I think that's more on my end,” Volkanovski said.

“They definitely showed me a couple of things that I'll remember.

“I actually did a couple of halfway shots and I was probably getting the closest out of all of them. Even though I didn't get them in, I was pretty consistent. There were at least hitting the ring every single time from halfway. That’s my claim for the day.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a> linked up with <a href="https://twitter.com/UFC_AUSNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UFC_AUSNZ</a> champ <a href="https://twitter.com/alexvolkanovski?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alexvolkanovski</a> earlier today to trade basketball + MMA tips ??<br><br>More coming ? with <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/sp0ze7q5aX">pic.twitter.com/sp0ze7q5aX</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1463373944530952200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hawks guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes said the visit from Volkanovski was a “special experience”.

“My dad always had me in boxing from (a young age), so to be able to see tactics from a guy that does it for his profession…he's a specialist at what he does,” Rathan-Mayes said.

“He's one of, if not the, best in the world. To be able to pick somebody's brain like that and be around a world champion is definitely really special.”

Illawarra’s season begins on Sunday December 5 against the Adelaide 36ers. The game will begin at 1pm AEDT and can be watched on ESPN, 10 Peach and Kayo.