In the main event of UFC 314 this past Saturday night, the vacant featherweight title was on the line. Former champion Alexander Volkanovski (27-4) was looking to regain the featherweight title as he took on top contender Diego Lopes (26-7).
Entering the bout, there were a lot of questions surrounding Volkanovski. In the lighter weight classes, a fighter over the age of 35 had never won a world title. In addition, many were wondering if Volkanovski’s chin had gone away after back-to-back knockout losses. There was a lot to answer for and Volkanovski was up to answering all the questions.
Volkanovski silenced the doubters with a vintage first round where he wobbled Diego Lopes multiple times and honestly just outclassed him. He did that for the majority of the second round as well but things got dicey at the end when he was dropped by Lopes briefly. However, he bounced back in the third round strongly.
His biggest piece of adversity came in the fourth round. Lopes landed a perfect shot right in the eye that clearly hindered Volkanovski. Lopes went all out and landed a bunch of big shots but Volkanovski survived and bounced back. Volkanovski had another solid fifth round and after the tremendous fight, there was no doubt who won and Alexander Volkanovski was awarded the decision and once again became the UFC featherweight champion.
What’s next after UFC 314?
Now that Volkanovski is back on top of the division, there’s questions as to what comes next. The featherweight division is in a very interesting spot at the moment. Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria are both moving up to the lightweight division. Brian Ortega might be as well after his lopsided loss to Diego Lopes last September.
Yair Rodriguez was calling for a title shot after his win over Patricio Pitbull, but Rodriguez had been finished twice in a row prior to Saturday night including by Alexander Volkanovski. If you ask me, there’s only one real answer as to who is next. The next challenger for the UFC featherweight title should be Movsar Evloev.
Evloev is undefeated and Volkanovski expressed interest in taking his undefeated record. He has no fighting history with Volkanovski which makes it a fresh title fight for the division. It’s the fight to make and I think that’s what will happen.