That’s right, the UFC is going back to back with UFC 325 just days away and hot on the heels of the promotion’s first Paramount event.
Aside from wanting to see what adjustments the fresh broadcasting partners
make for Show #2 (less Blink-182? More?), all eyes are on the ageless Alexander Volkanovski as he enters a fight as defending champion for the first time in two years. Standing across from him is a familiar face, Diego Lopes, the man Volkanovski beat to win a vacant belt, uh, nine months ago. Beating a high-level opponent twice is no guarantee in MMA, so if you’re a fan of “The Great,” tensions are high.
But what’s really at stake for Volkanovski? MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Mike Heck, and Jed Meshew sat down at the virtual roundtable to discuss how this fight will be remembered when it’s all said and done, and what else to look out for Saturday in Sydney.
1. What does this fight do for Alexander Volkanovski’s legacy?
Lee: As always, let me be the nerd here and talk numbers.
Per UFC’s official records, Volkanovski can notch his sixth successful featherweight title defense, putting him just one behind Jose Aldo for the company record at seven. Of course, in this house, we count Aldo’s WEC defenses—as anyone with integrity should—so that number is actually nine, but regardless, one step closer for Volkanovski.
He can actually gain a small measure of bragging rights over Aldo if he wins Saturday, as Aldo never successfully defended his belt in his second reign as champion. Volkanovski also beat Aldo in a fight once upon a time, so I guess that’s cool, too.
When he outpointed Lopes the first time, Volkanovski became the oldest fighter to win the featherweight title, so (duh) he can also become the oldest to defend it at 37. Volkanovski can also improve his record at 145 pounds to an absurd 17-1, with his only loss in the weight class coming to Ilia Topuria.
So no, this isn’t the title fight anyone was looking for, but a win makes the résumé of “The Great” just a little more so.
Heck: Tough to say, but if I had to guess, not a whole lot.
Look, Lopes is certainly not to blame for getting this opportunity. The UFC asked him to fight Jean Silva – who apparently was having a really tough time getting someone else to say yes – Lopes said ‘absolutely.’ They told Lopes and his team if he had a great showing, he’d be right back in the title mix, and he did exactly that.
Did anyone think Lopes would jump the line and get another crack nine months after losing to Volk? Not even Lopes did, but he was offered it, and of course he jumped on it. But this fight makes no sense right now. Even Dana White is telling you not to watch it if you don’t like it. Not a compelling case.
The first fight was super fun, this one probably will be as well. But if Volk wins, he beat the same guy in back-to-back fights in less than a year. If this were Movsar Evloev, the answer would be much different.
The only way this adds to Volkanovski’s already tremendous legacy is if he pitches a perfect game against Lopes — à la the third Max Holloway fight, or his performance against The Korean Zombie. Even then, it’s a small jump.
Meshew: Truly, I do not know. Volkanovski is the second-greatest featherweight of all time, and a top 15 all-time fighter. But I have no idea how to reckon with this final act of his career.
Championship wins are the currency of greatness in this sport (in all sports, really) because those are the most meaningful fights. But championship bouts presume that the title of “best in the world” is on the line, and can we really say that about this fight?
For many years, Volkanovski was the best featherweight alive, but he was clubbed by Topuria. Then Topuria left the weight class. And historically, when a champion retires or leaves a weight class, the next top two contenders fight for the vacant belt, but that’s not what happened. Volkanovski fought Diego Lopes, despite Evloev clearly being above him in line. That muddled things up.
And now, it’s even worse. Beating Lopes one time is not nothing. It’s a good win, and proof of Volkanovski’s ability to continue excelling despite clearly being past his prime — the hallmark of all truly great fighters. But an immediate rematch? Man, I don’t know. I don’t think I can give him a ton of credit for this one, despite it not being his fault. The UFC books the bouts, Volk just fights them. But if he doesn’t fight Evloev, I feel like this second title run doesn’t really matter that much, the same way most people don’t really talk about Jose Aldo’s second title reign or Georges St-Pierre’s middleweight championship.
Honestly, this is why I wish Volk had never come back to featherweight. Because of the Topuria loss, Volk will always feel like a placeholder now, and there are a ton of fun legend fights at 155 I’d rather watch him book in this final act of his career.
2. The next challenger for the UFC featherweight title is ___?
Lee: Lerone Murphy after he beats whoever they put against him next.
Yes, I’m being stubborn. This should have been Murphy’s spot, and even if you don’t like him to beat Volkanovski or Lopes, he damn sure earned the right to try. Last year, Murphy did everything one is supposed to do to secure a title shot in the modern UFC (in cage, anyway). He knocked off another ranked opponent in the highly respected Josh Emmett, and he secured a much-needed highlight when he smoked Aaron Pico at UFC 319. There was legitimate buzz around a Murphy championship campaign!
It wasn’t to be and now we’re left with this empty feeling in our stomachs no matter who wins Saturday. Murphy, go take care of business one more time and that title shot is guaranteed to should be yours.
Heck: Honestly? It could be anyone, it could even be a boat!
Family Guy references, aside, the correct answer should be Movsar Evloev, but it seems like he’s in the dog house for, well, reasons? Plus, being out for over a year doesn’t help things. Perhaps they book Evloev vs. Murphy in the near future, and the winner of that would most certainly be next.
Of course, Jean Silva just beat Arnold Allen in a heater of a fight at UFC 324. Could they slot “Lord” in there? They certainly could. But maybe they throw Silva in there with Aljamain Sterling to determine the No. 1 contender or, at worst, set up the on-deck hitter.
Heck, maybe Lopes gets a third crack at this rate if he loses and picks up another big win along the way.
Meshew: Alexander Volkanovski.
That’s right, I’m going with the upset. Sure, Volk just dummied Lopes not even a year ago, and sure, Lopes hasn’t really gotten any better, but you know what has happened? Volk’s gotten older, because that’s how time works.
Though Volk delivered a comprehensive victory in their first fight, he still had to battle through some of Lopes’ violent offense, and he’ll have to do so again this weekend. Except now he’s just a hair slower, a touch older, and this time Lopes puts him away, setting up a trilogy fight between the two of them.
3. Which main card lightweight fighter has the most to gain with a win?
Meshew: By definition, the answer is Mauricio Ruffy, who can make the biggest leap up the rankings on Saturday.
Ruffy is coming off a loss and currently ranked No. 14 in the weight class (and outside the top 15 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings), but despite that, he’s somehow gotten another opportunity to fight up the list. If Ruffy wins, he goes from a bad loss to being top 10! Must be nice to be a promotional favorite, because if he wasn’t, Ruffy would be trying to hold his spot against some hungry young killer.
Heck: Jed is absolutely correct with his answer, but I’ll go outside of the rankings and go with Quillan Salkilld, who faces Jamie Mullarkey in the main card opener.
Salkilld seems to be a guy with the goods at 155 pounds, as he had a breakout year in 2025. Is Mullarkey a ranked fighter or a world beater? No. But Salkilld will be super over with the Australian fans, and if Salkilld nukes Mullarkey, which he’s close to a -1000 favorite to do so, he’ll look like a star on the rise. And after what he did to Nasrat Haqparast, who was on an impressive win streak, he may find himself against a ranked fighter next.
Lee: Leave it to me to make a case for Benoit Saint Denis.
That’s right, we’re going “BSD” here, not Dan Hooker, because I think we can all agree that win, lose, or draw at UFC 325, Hooker has a fight with Paddy Pimblett whenever he wants it. They’ve been engaged in some deplorable trash talk, which the matchmakers love, so there’s no reason Pimblett shouldn’t start training for Hooker yesterday no matter what happens this weekend.
Saint Denis needs to keep building his career momentum after a brilliant and resurgent 2025 campaign. The all-gas, no brakes Frenchman fell to veterans Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano, which seemed to put a clear ceiling on his potential as a contender, but three finishes in six months – including a submission of the aforementioned Ruffy – have him right back on the challenger trail.
Don’t slip up now.
