Alexander Volkanovski is a man accustomed to punching above his weight and much of the conversation around UFC 284 is about how he will perform up a division.

At one point in time, the Australian was a squat young prop in rugby league, weighing in at almost 100kg before turning his attention to MMA. 

The 5ft 6in dynamo started competing at welterweight before gradually slimming down to lightweight and then featherweight, where he has thrived in the UFC. 

He's won all 12 fights inside the organisation, defending his title four times to set up Saturday's leap up to face Islam Makhachev. 

The size advantage belongs to the Russian but Volkanovski has been bulking up since last October when it became clear that the fight would happen. 

'The strength program is a little bit different because we're obviously trying to get a bit stronger and put on that little bit of muscle,' he explained to news.com.au. 

'And obviously with that you need to have a diet plan as well. So we're bulking at the moment — bulking with Volk. 

'We're eating a lot. I've never thought I would be the one to complain about how much I'm eating but it ain't easy to be honest.'

He later said: 'I'm eating over 4,000 calories a day which is hard - I never thought I'd complain about eating too much food.

'I want to be the champ champ. I think I deserve it, it's fired me right up. It's a challenge yeah, but that's what excites me.'

Much of that calorific intake is in healthy fats and Volkanovski regularly posts short videos on his Instagram page with various meals, usually meats. 

Only last week, Volkanovski's walking around weight was just upward of 77kg, slightly above 170lbs, in comparison to the 160lbs it might be in the run up to a featherweight fight. 

He is feeling the benefits of heavy lifting in the gym and kitchen ahead of this Saturday's clash.

'The fact that I'm moving up, doing the bulking, telling myself we need to get stronger, we need to work on that takedown defense, all of a sudden I'm twice as strong as I was,' Volkanovski said on FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel.

'My defense is just on point. I'm like an absolute brick wall when people are trying to run into me, and they feel it, they instantly feel it as soon as they grab a hold of me, or we grab each other. They can already significantly see the strength, so it just makes you think where I go from here.'

'You can see in his face like, "This guy ain't too big," Volkanovski said. 'I've seen that on plenty of people's faces. I've seen that on my previous fights – my last four, five fights. But that face quickly changes when I'm in the octagon.

'Give me 10 seconds with him, that face changes real quick. All of a sudden, that size doesn't matter. All of a sudden my footwork, "Where's this guy at? I'm in a puzzle, he's already giving drama." 

'Then I put my hands on him, there's another problem. Then they try to grab a hold of me, and I'm a little brick f****ng wall. There's another problem.

'That's when you see them start to crumble and be like, "F**k, what have I got myself into?" That's exactly what's going to happen with Islam, especially the way he's looking. I can tell he really thinks he's going to be way too strong.'

Those who have worked out with and fought Volankovski can attest to his strength. 

Brad Riddell, UFC lightweight, previously told Men's Health: 'He's extremely strong. And I reckon it's from coming down from 100kg [his league playing weight] gradually. He managed to maintain the strength.

'And I assume having that much weight on that small a body, made his lungs work a lot harder when he was bigger, and then managed to keep it when he was lighter. 

'His superpower is his strength, because he's ridiculously strong, and he's ridiculously fit too.'

Volkanovski's durability has never been in question but Makhachev is equally relentless with a naturally bigger frame. 

That's not to say it is a guarantee that the Aussie will be outmuscled. 

His former coach Andrew Wood told the South China Morning Post: 'Volk is a freak – his work ethic is insane. 

'He's so consistent, that's the important thing. Consistent with his diet, consistent with his training, consistent with his mental prep. 

'That's why he's world champion, and that's why for me he's the greatest of all time at that weight.'

Volkanovski is a 3/1 underdog despite his incredible CV at featherweight and Makhachev's lack of experience at the very top. 

Perhaps the bookies believe the size differential will be too great to overcome, especially given the Russian's wrestling prowess. 

But the home fighter has said before that his rivals seem 'puny' compared to the giants he would face in rugby league. 

One former team-mate at Warilla Gorillas club, Ngatai Hetet, told the Athletic about Volkanovski's ability to mix it with players far bigger than him. 

He said: 'He didn't give a f*** about how big people were. He would just run the ball all day. He had no fear, no matter how big they were.

'And even if someone twice the size of him started picking on him or tried to fight him, he would clean them up. You wouldn't want to pick a fight with him, no matter how big they were.

'There was a guy named Shrek who was probably the biggest in the league. Almost seven foot and 150kg.

'He and Alex ended up having a bit of a scuffle, a bit of a fight. Because Alex was so short, he had to jump up to try to punch him in the head!'

On Saturday night, Volkanovski won't have to jump too far to land on Makhachev, who is just the four inches taller. 

Like many of the Dagestani's victims, he may well end up being manhandled. But there are plenty, including Volkanovski himself, who believe the Russian's strength advantage is being overplayed.