Diego Lopes’ thrilling win over Jean Silva kept the featherweight division moving, but it’s still unclear who will challenge champion Alexander Volkanovski next.
Volkanovski defeated Lopes to win a vacant belt at UFC 314 this past April and begin his second reign atop the 145-pound roster. That makes it unlikely Lopes will rematch Volkanovski in the near future, but considering Silva appeared to be in line for a title shot had be beaten Lopes at Noche UFC, it stands to reason Lopes can’t be far from
the opportunity.
As fans await Volkanovski’s next title defense, he has his own questions about how the matchmakers should proceed.
“What is next?” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “A lot of people are going to ask me who’s next? I think the UFC were waiting to see what happens with Jean Silva and Diego. I know Lerone Murphy’s obviously one guy coming off a big KO against [Aaron] Pico. I obviously said to that one, ‘Yeah, see you later.’ But then we’re waiting around. So I’m guessing we were waiting around to see what happens with this fight, so I don’t know.
“Does Diego get a rematch? Crazy win like that, wild fashion again, doing what he always does, I know the UFC absolutely loves him. Whether they push for him, we’ll see what happens. But either way, you guys know me. Whoever it is, it is.”
Volkanovski knows what it’s like to challenge a champion twice in the same year. In 2023, when Volkanovski was in his first featherweight title reign, he jumped up a division to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 284. Makhachev won a competitive decision and saw Volkanovski in the cage again eight months later when Volkanovski stepped in as a replacement for an injured Charles Oliveira on only a few days’ notice. In the second fight, Makhachev put Volkanovski away with a highlight-reel head kick knockout.
Lopes could jump on a similar short-notice opportunity, possibly if something should happen to presumptive top contender Lerone Murphy, who is 17-0-1 in his career.
“Obviously, I just fought Diego, does it make sense to just rematch straight away?” Volkanovski said. “But you never know what the UFC want. I’ll have a chat to ‘em, I know Lerone Murphy’s there. Let’s see what happens. I should get some information on that very soon, and I can’t really tell you straightaway, can I? I guess the UFC will let you know when that is.
“I know December is sort of where we’re looking. We’ll see what happens.”
One thing Volkanovski has always made clear is he will sign on to fight whoever the UFC asks him to. Volkanovski turns 37 this month and while he’s well aware of the looming threat of the next generation of elite featherweights, he’s not shying away from taking them on.
“A lot of people saying Jean Silva is going to be a massive threat,” Volkanovski said. “Obviously, he’s got that KO power, but you can see — I’ll leave it at that. You know what I mean? … Everyone knows I don’t duck anyone, but everyone’s always like, ‘I don’t know about this fight. I don’t know about that fight.’ Pico, Jean Silva, all these guys are going to be your big, you know, the new coming evolution fighters, blah blah blah blah.
“I showed you I can take out these new evolution fighters. Diego’s one of them and he’s taken out all these new evolution fighters. So I’ll leave it at that.”
TOP STORIES
Real? Terence Crawford checked Canelo Alvarez off the list. Is Ilia Topuria next?
Praise. Canelo ranks Crawford above Floyd Mayweather.
Legend. RIP to British boxing royalty, Ricky Hatton.
Statement. Jean Silva speaks after a rough Noche UFC main event.
Nemesis. Dominick Cruz isn’t done with Keith Peterson, calling the veteran referee a “complete f*ck-up.”
Meatball. Molly McCann is back! In boxing form!
VIDEO STEW
Crawford vs. Canelo post-fight show.
Crawford vs. Canelo post-fight press conference.
Re-live the MMA Fighting Crawford vs. Canelo watch party.
FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
On to The Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee make sense of the UFC featherweight title picture after Diego Lopes’ big win, make picks for Noche UFC’s big winners, and figure out what to do with the whole Kelvin Gastelum mess.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Clear path.
Perspective.
Thank goodness.
Throwback.
Can’t please everyone.
Tribute.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Hype for the event was kind of meh and the pacing was truly atrocious, but the actual Crawford vs. Canelo fight delivered and that’s what matters most. Crawford made a strong case that he is the best boxer of this generation and Canelo fought hard and handled the loss with class. Oh, both guys also made a f*ck-ton of money. So there’s that.
As for Noche UFC, the machine rolls on, and we got just enough highlights and decent scraps to save this from being relegated to the junk pile and to tide us over until UFC Perth in two weeks.
Just don’t look at that card too closely.
Happy Monday, everyone!
EXIT POLL
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