UFC 314 Monday Matchmaker: Where does featherweight go from here?
Alexander Volkanovski is a two-time champion, so with a familiar face back atop the featherweight division, how should the UFC proceed when it comes to booking the next title fight?
What’s old is new again in the UFC featherweight division, creating an interesting conundrum when it comes to figuring out what direction the promotion should go when it comes to booking the first title defence of Alexander Volkanovski’s second reign.
The 36-year-old Australian claimed the vacant title at UFC 314 on Saturday night, turning in a “Vintage Volk” performance against Diego Lopes, earning a clean sweep of the scorecards to make his way back to the top of the heap in the 145-pound weight class just 14 months after he was knocked from that perch by Ilia Topuria.
Volkanovski was sharp with his jab, smooth with his footwork, and crafty with his overall approach, often keeping Lopes off balance with level changes designed to force him to defend as much as they were intended to get the fight to the floor.
So now that there is a familiar face with a long history against the division’s elite back on the throne, how should the UFC proceed when it comes to booking the next featherweight title fight?
Let’s explore the options.
Option 1: Yair Rodriguez
The former interim champ said following his impressive, one-sided win over Patricio Pitbull earlier in the night that he had assurances that a win would get him a shot at the title. He asked for it to be at Noche UFC in Guadalajara in September, which makes complete sense from is vantage point and in terms of having a Mexican star in the headlining bout.
However…
Volkanovski thumped Rodriguez less than two years ago at UFC 290, and Saturday was his first win he was submitted by Brian Ortega last February in Mexico City. As much as beating Pitbull is an excellent win, it doesn’t feel like the 32-year-old has done enough to merit a second chance to challenge Volkanovski at this point. He’s close, but one more quality win before he gets another kick at the championship can would be more fitting.
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Option 2: Movsar Evloev
Few people are going to be lining up shouting for Evloev to get the first crack at Volkanovski as “Alexander the Great” embarks on his next campaign as champion, but there is a lot working in his favour at the moment.
First and foremost, he’s yet to face the second-time champion, and fresh matchups are nearly always more appealing than forced rematches.
Secondly, he’s done enough to merit an opportunity. The 31-year-old is 19-0 overall, 9-0 in the UFC, and has beaten Dan Ige, Lopes, Arnold Allen, and Aljamain Sterling in his last four outings. All four went the distance — all nine UFC appearances have — but he won, and at some point, when options are limited, you have to just reward winning.
Lastly, Evloev is in the same spot people like Belal Muhammad, Merab Dvalishvili, and Magomed Ankalaev were before him. That is to say riding an extended winning streak that has put him into title contention, while not being the most exciting, popular choice to challenge for the title amongst the fans and media.
Can anyone explain what happened when each of those three individuals eventually got their shot at gold? Class? Anyone?
There will be some people that strongly dislike the idea of those three men (or some combination of them) being champions, but Evloev might be championship level and there shouldn’t be a “style requirement” for getting an opportunity, not when the other options are not dramatically better.
Option 3: Lerone Murphy
Murphy could’ve done a better job making his case for a championship opportunity both in his performance against Josh Emmett and with his time on the mic following that win. Much like Evloev, though, “The Miracle” has done enough in terms of his resume to be considered for a championship opportunity.
He too is undefeated for his career (16-0-1) and in the UFC (8-0-1) with a bunch of good wins under his belt. People can make the “Emmett isn’t that good” argument all they want, but as Murphy said leading up to their bout, Topuria got a championship opportunity after beating him on the cards and parlayed that into an incredible 2024 campaign.
The Brit is at the point — again, like Evloev — where there aren’t a lot of other options that make sense for him beyond fighting for the title, so this feels like a “one or the other” situation.
ESK suggests: Book Volkanovski vs. Evloev in August at the earliest, October at the latest, and see what happens. Either the Russian keeps rolling and shows he’s top tier, or Volkanovski hands him his first loss and he’s forced to take the long road back to contention. At the same time, have Rodriguez and Murphy on the main card of 320 in September in Guadalajara, with the winner getting next.
What will probably happen: Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez 2 headlines UFC 320.
WHO’S NEXT FOR PADDY THE BADDY?
Pimblett dominated Michael Chandler, finishing the former title challenger and top-10 stalwart in the third round after controlling quite literally the entire fight in a performance that exceeded even the most ambitious and favourable expectations.
He looked big, strong, and even better than he did against King Green last year. Chandler didn’t really have anything for him, which was honestly a little surprising. So now what?
Well, the Liverpool man will move into the top 10 when the rankings update, and he laid out the handful of names he’s interested in facing next, and given his popularity and position in the hierarchy, I think he’s going to get one of those four.
For those who missed it, Pimblett said he’d be willing to face Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, or Arman Tsarukyan, minimizing his interest in facing the latter, while pushing to share the Octagon with the Brazilian former champion, and that should be the fight the UFC makes.
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Poirier seems like he’s coming back for one more, and it shouldn’t be against someone trying to climb the ranks, so he’s out. Gaethje is coming off a good win over Rafael Fiziev and is too much of a chaos agent to stick in there opposite Pimblett, because he could end this ride in a flash, and honestly, that’s not what the UFC is after at this point. Tsarukyan is on a bit of a timeout at the moment after withdrawing from his title bout with Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 the day before the fight, so a marquee assignment like this that is certainly winnable doesn’t feel like the kind of punishment the organization is going to dole out.
Which leaves “Do Bronx,” who remains in the title chase, but could also use one another win before he’s back into the title conversation as well.
From a UFC standpoint, it’s the perfect situation, because if Oliveira wins, he shows he’s still elite and cements his place on the short list of possible title challengers, and if Pimblett wins, he’s beaten a former champ and the most decorated finisher in UFC history, making him an automatic candidate to fight for the belt.
ESK suggests: Oliveira vs. Pimblett, five rounds, pay-per-view co-main event anywhere between August and October.
MORE MATCHUPS TO CONSIDER AFTER UFC 314
Dominick Reyes has won three straight, all by stoppage. Aleksandar Rakic is currently ranked sixth in the light-heavyweight divisions despite a three-fight losing streak and his last win coming in March 2021. That feels like an easy pairing to put together.
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Can we do Jean Silva vs. Arnold Allen next, just to see where the scorching hot Fighting Nerds member fits in the featherweight hierarchy?
Virna Jandiroba should be fighting for the strawweight title next, regardless of how long she has to wait or who she has to face. She has won five straight, dominated Yan Xiaonan, and needs to put her feet up while we all wait to see what Zhang Weili is doing after successfully defending her title earlier this year against Tatiana Suarez.
Give Dan Ige the winner of the upcoming fight between Giga Chikadze and David Onama in Kansas City. Chikadze is currently a couple spots ahead of him in the rankings, and Onama will be if he defeats the Georgian kickboxer, which means Ige gets to fight forward in the rankings no matter what, and he’s done more than enough to merit that opportunity.
Chase Hooper called his shot: a pairing with Fares Ziam, who has also won five straight, which makes all the sense in the world.
Why not skip a couple rungs on the divisional ladder and drop Marco Tulio in against someone a little further up the middleweight ranks next? Tell me a fight against Roman Kopylov wouldn’t be fun to watch.
