It’s 2025, but UFC fans still seem to be hunting for witches, blaming them for the inconveniences of daily life. According to fans, whenever UFC content creator Nina Marie Daniele films a video with a fighter with a title shot that weekend, they end up losing or pulling out of the fight. And the latest on her list is Alexander Volkanovski, who is taking on Diego Lopes for the featherweight title at UFC 314.
The former champion is on a 2-fight losing streak and in the twilight of his glorious career, but to fans, shooting a video with Nina, where he teaches her some kickboxing, is going to be the key reason for his perceived failure this weekend.
“Bet the house on lopes now he’s made a vid with her,” One fan commented. The ‘Nina curse’, as it as been notoriously dubbed, has been talked about for some time but only gained prominence ahead of Arman Tsarukyan’s scheduled title match against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 311.
Tsarukyan withdrew from the fight with a 48-hour notice, citing a sore back, while fans claimed he had hurt himself trying to show off for Nina.
Then came last month’s UFC 313, where light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira bit the dust, defending his title against Magomed Ankalaev and yet somehow, despite the Brazilian’s timid approach to the fight, the influencer found herself accused of being the harbinger of bad luck.
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And now, some fans believe that Volk is headed in a similar direction. “Oh noooooo.. Volk just unlocked The Nina Curse”, they said.
Naturally, Daniele had to defend herself from the allegations by commenting, “I filmed with BOTH fighters so don’t give me non of that Nina Curse sh*t.”
Fans claim Volk now has the Nina curse pic.twitter.com/nc0UYTN2mF
— THE UFCGUY (@the_ufcguy) April 8, 2025
But even after she revealed that she filmed with both fighters, fans just weren’t willing to let it go. “Noooo volk get away from her you’re going to get the curse,” one of the fans said.
“And just like that. He sets himself up for a loss. I literally watch this chick’s videos just to confirm who going to lose. Lol”, added another.
Volkanovski is, of course, not that bothered by the trolls. Perhaps it’s one of the reasons why he’s called ‘The Great.’
Volkanovski reveals his old nickname
The Australian fighter has a number of monikers, from ‘The Great’, to ‘Volk’, while his official moniker is a reference to the former king of the ancient Greek Kingdom Macedonia- Alexander ‘The Great’.
But he wasn’t always called that.
“Everyone calls me Volk, yeah. It used to be The Hulk, Alex ‘The Hulk’ Volkanovski. As in Hulk, Hulk, the green Hulk. But I mean a featherweight shouldn’t be called ‘Hulk’ so I changed it, to ‘The Great'”, he explained.
Another reason Volk changed his nickname to Alexander’s is because he has Macedonian and Greek heritage. His parents had moved to Australia in hopes of a better quality of life and better opportunities for their two sons.
