His instant classic with challenger Brian Ortega went the distance, but was a knockout victory in the fight-of-the-night stakes.

There were plenty of respected judges willing to put in the top handful of featherweight title fights ever.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more thrilling round than their third stanza - one both men did remarkably well to escape from.

Volkanovski had the battle well in hand, only to get caught deep in a guillotine choke from the noted jiujitsu wizard.

Escaping that, he was then caught in Ortega's signature triangle choke only to respond with his own trademark - a relentless ground-and-pound onslaught the challenger barely survived.

The fourth round was almost a carbon copy, Volkanovski escaping another submission attempt to bring Ortega back to the brink with strikes.

Despite the thrilling back and forth, Volkanovski dominated enough exchanges to claim all five rounds on two of the judges scorecards, and four of the five on the third's.

It cemented his spot as the division's top dog, but he admitted afterwards he felt his grip on the belt loosening.

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"It was 'f...k I'm about to lose the belt' deep," he said of the guillotine choke.

"The type of human being I am... we talk about going through adversity, always being prepared, a never give up attitude and that's what you saw.

"That was as deep as it can get. I was making weird noises, I was thinking I was about to lose the belt. I kept fighting and just opened a little bit of space and I got my chin out.

"Then he chucked me in the triangle as well. He's known for his jiujitsu, I didn't think he'd get me that deep, but he did. Credit to him.

"He made me really dig deep to get out of there but I've shown time and time again I always dig deep. That's what champions are made of."

It earned both men a $50,000 fight of the night bonus and ended a 14-month absence from the cage, the longest of his pro career.

It also extends his UFC winning streak to 10, and his overall unbeaten streak to 20 fights without defeat.

"I wanted to get the finish, I've been talking about getting that finish, but at least it was a war," Volkanovski said.

"I almost had him, I was hitting him with big shots and it looked like he was done, but he came back stronger. He had me in some deep positions as well, there was a lot happening in there.

"Obviously when you're going through it you're just worried about what's happening... then you come out and everyone's buzzing. I've got to watch it and [really] see how good this fight was... but as long as we put on a performance [I'm happy]."

Volkanovski said often in the build-up that he's never harboured more dislike for a rival than he did for Ortega, but it was all amicable after unleashing 25 minutes of hell on each other.

"There's nothing but respect now," Volkanovski said.

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"He's tough. I was giving it to him trying to get in his head. I said some things, and I don't usually say that sort of stuff, but he got my respect.

"I thought I was going to break him, I thought he was broken after the third round. I thought 'that's it, it's over' but I started putting pressure on him and he fired back like nothing happened.

"He's tough, he's durable and credit to him."

Ortega was singing from the same sheet, paying credit to the champion.

"I thought he was done, [the submissions] were what we trained for my whole camp," Ortega said.

"Like I said, I was trying to come for his head, but that little bastard's tough as hell. I wrapped onto that neck and I tried to squeeze it and tried to finish him.

"I heard him gargling and then he slipped out and I though 'f...k, this guy's the champ for a reason'. I got nothing but respect [for him]."

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