The 3 Best Fights for Alexander Volkanovski After UFC 290 Win
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Alexander VolkanovskiJeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
In the end, Alexander Volkanovski had no trouble with Yair Rodriguez.
The featherweight champion, long considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA, defended his belt against Rodriguez in the main event of UFC 290 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Heading into the fight, Mexico’s Rodriguez was considered one of the most dangerous strikers Volkanovski had fought to date, but the Australian champion didn’t let his challenger get going on the feet. Instead, he spent the first two rounds out-grappling his foe on the mat, and in the third, stunned him with a right hook, and finished him off with a storm of ground strikes.
The win separated Volkanovski from a razor-close decision loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in his last fight and reaffirmed him as the indisputable king of the featherweight division, where he has now defended the belt five times.
As for what’s next, the champion revealed in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that he will soon be having surgery on his arm. When he’s healed up from that procedure, he has some interesting choices for his next opponent, and he clearly knows it.
“There’s a few options, I’m just going to go back and see what’s next,” he said.
Keep scrolling for three opponents that we think make sense for the featherweight champ’s next fight.
Max Holloway
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Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
If we’re going by the featherweight rankings, the most obvious option for Alexander Volkanovski is another fight with No. 1-ranked contender and former champion Max Holloway.
Volkanovski and Holloway have fought three times before, with the former winning all three times by decision. His latest win over the Hawaiian, who is himself one of the greatest featherweights ever, was the most decisive of the bunch.
Ordinarily, Volkanovski’s 3-0 lead over Holloway would probably put a permanent end to their rivalry. Yet Holloway has entrenched himself as the division’s second-best fighter with wins over a host of dangerous contenders, and can likely only be denied for so long.
In his last fight, he picked up a decisive unanimous decision win over Arnold Allen, which separated him from his latest lost to Volkanovski. He has the opportunity to further improve his position in the beautiful city of Singapore on Aug. 26, when he takes on popular veteran “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.
If he wins that one, he might just be granted another crack at the reigning champ, especially considering the competitive nature of their first two fights.
Ilia Topuria
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Ilia Topuria punches Josh EmmettJosh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
While Max Holloway is the highest ranked contender in the crowded UFC featherweight division, he might be outflanked by undefeated contender Ilia Topuria.
After a lopsided decision win over the always dangerous Josh Emmett in his last fight, Topuria is now 14-0 overall and 6-0 in the UFC. Other highlights of his Octagon run include stoppage wins over Bryce Mitchell, Ryan Hall and Damon Jackson, throughout which he has flaunted incredible skill on the ground and on the feet, and stopping power to boot.
He also stands to benefit from the fact that he has yet to fight Volkanovski and looks like a fresh and dangerous challenge for the champion, while fans are likely tired of seeing Volkanovski fighting Holloway.
Volkanovski has already acknowledged Topuria as a potential challenger—but he doesn’t seem worried about what the undefeated contender brings to the table.
“Everyone’s hyping him up, everyone wants that fight,” Volkanovski said on Michael Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast recently. “A lot of people are hyping him right up. I view him a lot different than a lot of people are, to be honest, but everyone’s hyping him up, thinks he’s that good.”
“If [Topuria] wants this and the UFC want it and the people want it, people think he’s going to stand a chance, I’ll show you that he doesn’t.”
Islam Makhachev
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Islam Makhachev and Alexander VolkanovskiChris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
If Alexander Volkanovski gets his way, then his next fight will almost certainly be against UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
The pair have history.
Back in February, after four impressive featherweight title defenses, Volkanovski hiked up to lightweight in a bid to become a two-division champion. He and Makhachev, who was the much larger man in the cage, fought for five intense rounds with several dramatic momentum shifts.
In the end, Volkanovski came up short by unanimous decision, but many fans felt he should have been named the winner.
Since that fight, Volkanovski has been adamant that he deserves another shot at the lightweight champion, and his win over Rodriguez definitely strengthens his claim to one.
“Let’s be real, everyone wants that rematch,” the champion said on The MMA Hour ahead of the fight. “I want it, I know the UFC wants it, and we just gotta see exactly what’s gonna happen, but that’s what I want to do. I want to be active, so bring it on.”
Makhachev, at the very least, seems to have been paying close attention to Volkanovski’s latest fight, having wished the featherweight champion luck on social media in the lead-up.
The rematch seems like one of the biggest fights the UFC can make right now, and just like the pair’s first fight, it will have massive implications for the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings.
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