Cooking with Volk, presented by Rainbet

Discover how Alexander Volkanovski’s Cooking brings fans closer to the UFC champion

You put on a Cooking with Volk video to see what Alexander Volkanovski is making. A few minutes later, you’re wondering whether there’s anything in your fridge that could pass for the same meal.

That’s an easy trap to fall into when someone is frying bacon, melting cheese over a burger or slicing steak while you’re sitting there with a cup of coffee. You weren’t hungry when you pressed play. Now you’re making plans.

Cooking with Volk, presented by Rainbet, gives fans plenty of that. There’s food worth watching, guests happy to get involved and Volk enjoying himself away from the demands of a fight.

He might be feeding the family, cooking with someone who knows far more than he does or putting together something you could make in your own kitchen. The setting changes, but there’s usually a good meal to look forward to. And while his name brings mostly fans, you don’t need to know anything about MMA to enjoy watching him cook.

The cooking was there before the partnership

Cooking with Volk already had years of appearances behind it before Rainbet entered the picture. Fans didn’t need to be persuaded that Volkanovski liked food. They had watched him prepare it, talk about it and share it with other people.

In April 2022, a moment when he joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour after defending his featherweight title against The Korean Zombie will stay with fans for years. Their time together included an unplanned cooking segment making chicken coated in Takis.

What an entertaining follow-up to a championship performance! One moment you’re discussing one of the best fighters in the world. Next, he’s cooking with the interviewer. Fans used to check UFC odds and betting lines before watching Volk compete get to see him doing something completely different here. For a few minutes, the questions about opponents and training were put on the back burner. There’s chicken to deal with.

Over time, wearing the apron has become part of Volk’s personality. Fans who follow the show don’t need the joke explained every time he appears in a kitchen. They’re interested in what he’s doing and who’s joining him.

His fighting career brought him an audience. The cooking has given that audience another reason to keep watching.

He doesn’t spend every minute playing the tough guy

A fighter’s working life gives the public plenty of intense moments. Training sessions, staredowns and the fight itself all have their place. There are good reasons for an athlete to look serious when the next task involves facing another professional fighter.

Still, it can be refreshing to see them occupied with something more relaxing.

In a cooking show, Volk has no need to keep returning to how dangerous he is. Everyone already knows. He can concentrate on what’s in front of him, enjoy someone’s company and laugh.

The kitchen also gives fans something they can relate to, even if they’ve never watched him fight. They don’t have to choose between respecting the competitor and enjoying the man making food. Both can be part of why they like him. If anything, seeing him in everyday work makes it easier to take an interest in his career.

You’ve spent time watching him enjoy cooking. You’ve seen him with guests and family. When he fights again, you’re supporting someone you recognize beyond the promotional ops.  

Volk knows how to feed a crowd

Most viewers won’t know what it takes to prepare for a championship fight. They may understand the hours involved, but they haven’t experienced that job themselves. Many don’t find that interesting or relatable.  

But you probably know the pleasure of cooking for friends and watching everyone go back for seconds. You know the satisfaction of putting food down and seeing everyone dig in. You also know what it’s like to wait for someone’s first reaction, especially when you’ve tried something different.

Cooking with Volk gives fans a way to relate to him through everyday things like cooking. You don’t need to share interest in sport to understand the pleasure of making something for friends. Nor do you need to know much about fighting to enjoy watching people gather around food.

Volk brings the laughs to the kitchen

A cooking show doesn’t have to stop every few minutes to produce a joke. There’s already enough going on. People disagree over how something should be done. Someone offers advice from a safe distance. A person who was happy to watch becomes very interested when it’s time to eat.

Volk’s sense of humor is familiar and comforting. He can react to whoever is beside him and whatever happens during the preparation. A laugh doesn’t need to become a performance that takes over the whole episode. Just like in any other kitchen where families are gathered to prepare a meal.  

There’s also room for him to be the person everyone is laughing at. A host who can take a joke makes it easier for guests to relax and join in. For fans, those small exchanges are often what stays in the memory.

Guests get to do more than answer questions

The show’s earlier collaborations include a September 2022 burger making appearance with Hasbulla in Melbourne. It attracted attention, but it also gave both of them something to do together.

That’s a major advantage of cooking with a guest. An ordinary interview usually comes with familiar expectations. The host asks, the guest answers, and both try to make the exchange interesting. Preparing a meal allows people to get involved in other ways.

They can offer opinions, ask questions and reveal how patient they are when food is taking longer than they’d like. Volk has something to respond to beyond whatever answer comes next. He can explain what he’s doing, ask someone to lend a hand or enjoy their reaction to the finished meal.

Viewers get to watch how people get along over a shared task. That can be more entertaining than another discussion covering the same topics fans have already heard. You may press play because you recognize the guest. Once the cooking starts, it’s their time together that keeps you interested.

Volk can be the one taking instructions

Volkanovski has spent years developing skills that most people will never possess. Put him beside an experienced chef, though, and there’s plenty for him to learn.

During a Cooking with Volk visit to Rottnest Island in 2022, chef Tony Howell introduced him to preparing fresh seafood aboard a Rottnest Cruises boat. Volk was there to listen, try things and learn from the pro.

He’s happy to ask questions and let the chef take charge. Viewers can follow his questions and see how he responds to being shown a different way of doing something.

It’s also relatable. Most of us have stood beside someone who knows far more than we do, trying to remember the instructions without getting in their way. Seeing Volk take his turn in that position makes the show welcoming to everyone.

Family episodes let someone else take charge

Family gatherings bring out a different side of people, including those who spend their working lives in front of cameras. At home, your achievements don’t necessarily give you the final word on dinner. Someone else may have been cooking that meal for decades and have no interest in receiving instructions.

In the Cooking with Volk episode “This Fed My WHOLE Family,” a Macedonian Christmas gathering included a large meal with Volk’s dad leading the cooking. The episode showed us difficulties with the roasting spit and the food beginning to burn before it was brought back under control.

It’s an interesting watch, even for viewers whose family celebrations involve completely different food.

You know who usually takes charge. You know who gets asked to help and who appears when everything is almost ready. A minor problem can attract several opinions within seconds. Seeing Volk among those familiar family habits makes him easier to relate to. His career hasn’t removed him from the ordinary business of getting everyone fed. And when his dad is running the cooking, being a famous fighter doesn’t automatically make him the boss.

Down on the farm with Volk

Cooking with Volk also spends time on the farm with an outdoor cooking area. Those episodes give viewers more time with Volk outside the usual sporting schedule. There doesn’t have to be a fight announcement or a major result to justify checking in. Sometimes it’s enough to see what he’s been doing.

The farm also gives Volk something he can talk about with enthusiasm that has nothing to do with an opponent. Fans get to see where he chooses to put his time and attention when he’s away from competition, like his garden and animals.

Food gives him something else to talk about

Athletes often only talk about their results. After a win, the questions concern what went right and who should be next. After a loss, they’re asked what happened, what needs changing and whether they can recover. Sure, fans want to know that too, but they can also become repetitive for both the person answering and the fans listening.

Cooking with Volk gives him time away from that routine. He can talk about the food, ask a guest about their preferences or concentrate on getting something finished. Fans can enjoy watching him without every moment being about the UFC.

That’s especially welcome when you already follow his career closely. There are plenty of places to hear fight analysis. Seeing him doing something he enjoys is a nice change.

It also makes a good TV show. A good guest, a few laughs and a meal everyone enjoys can carry the whole afternoon.

Volk has fans outside the cage and inside the kitchen

Volkanovski isn’t the only fighter who enjoys cooking. Plenty of athletes share meals or post the occasional kitchen clip. With Volk, cooking has become something fans actively associate with his name. They know there’s a show to watch and another episode to look out for.  

Fans get to see him doing something other than training or talking about his next fight.

Training footage shows the work. Interviews explain the ambitions. Cooking lets people spend time with him over something they might enjoy themselves.

Fans don’t need another version of fight week

Part of the fun of Cooking with Volk is that the show can take its time. Fight week has a job to do. There’s an event approaching, questions to answer and anticipation to build. Everyone involved knows what the appearances are leading towards.

Cooking is way more casual and relaxing. You can listen while Volk prepares something, pay attention when a guest gets involved and wait for the tasting without wondering whether a major announcement is coming.  

That pace suits fans who already see enough dramatic headlines about the sport. An episode can be a great company at the end of the day.

After a few episodes, you start to know what makes him laugh and when he’s about to crack a joke. You notice how someone reacts, what makes them laugh and which subjects get them talking.

Volk would take a joke, ask for help and let his dad take charge of dinner. Even with a championship career behind him, he still has to listen when someone tells him he’s doing it wrong.

Rainbet presents a show fans can enjoy

With Rainbet in the presenting role, Cooking with Volk still has a clear attraction for viewers: Volk himself.

People will come for different reasons. Some have followed his fighting career for years. Others recognize a guest or enjoy watching someone cook. The show has room for all of them.

For existing fans, it’s another chance to spend time with him between fights. They can enjoy his humor, see him with people he knows and watch him get enthusiastic about something outside training. For newer viewers, cooking provides an easy introduction.

People tune in to see Volk ask a chef for advice, joke around with a guest and watch everyone take their first bite of something he’s cooked.

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