Wollongong's Greeks And Macedonians Kick Off Historic Argument Over Who Gets To Claim Alexander The Great

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The generational migrant communities of the NSW Illawarra region are once again arguing over the origins of historical figures.

This follows Sunday's UFC 325 in Sydney, where the Wollongong featherweight Alexander Volkanovski masterfully dismantled the Brazilian Diego Lopes in a clinical performance to win by unanimous decision and retain his title.

Both the Greeks and Macedonians east of the escarpment are now bickering over who gets to claim the two-time UFC champion.

Volkanovski landed blow after blown throughout the five rounds, with the 37-year-old winning 49-46, 49-46, 50-45 on the judges' scorecards.

This performance has resulted in feelings of both immense pride and jealous gatekeeping for the post-war steel worker families from Wollongong, which include sizeable numbers of Greek and Macedonian populations.

This is not the first time that both of these communities have furiously debated who gets to claim a famous battle-weary alpha male named Alexander.

Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE) was an ancient European king, known for his lifelong military campaigns throughout Asia and Egypt.

Alexander the Great is also the subject of furious debate amongst the global Greek and Macedonian diasporas, given that his identity his significant to both cultures. Historically, he is considered both: an ethnic Macedonian who spread Greek civilization throughout the world.

Likewise, Volkanovski is known for bringing Australian MMA to the world stage, as well as his masterful craftmanship as a Wollongong concreter.

The featherweight champ has previously addressed the argument himself, during an interview with the only Australians news organisation that both communities take seriously, the SBS.

"My father is from the village of Beranci, Macedonia, and my mother is from Greece," he tells SBS Macedonian.

"My surname Volkanovski comes from my father's side, I have many supporters and I really appreciate it."

However, given the fact that Beranci was technically part of Yugoslavia when his mother migrated to Australia, Volkanovski now has to contend with both Serbians, Croatian, Bosnian, Albanian and Bulgarian-Australians all claiming him as 'a balkan' - which is code for 'basically my people'.