The UFC was in Australia for a solid UFC 325 card on Saturday. The main event saw featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defending his title in a rematch against Diego Lopes.
In the end, it was Volkanovski who won by decision again in a rather entertaining fight. Following UFC 325, here is what I think should be next for the two fighters involved in the title fight.
Alexander Volkanovski
Alexander Volkanovski remained the UFC’s featherweight champion with a decision win over Diego Lopes. Volkanovski was able to dictate the pace and avoid the power punches of Lopes. The Aussie also used his wrestling to control the fight to help edge out the win.
Entering the fight, many wondered if Volkanovski would retire, even if he won. Yet, he made it clear after the fight he won’t retire and still has more fights left in him.
“I mean, if it’s the featherweight division, it’s got to be the top guys,” Volkanovski said on the post-fight show. “You know what I’m like. I want to fight the top guys who deserve it. … I’ll talk to the UFC and see what they say. But for me, again I’m an easy champion at the end of the day. If the UFC pushes it or whatever, all right. We’ll see what happens.”
Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev are set to headline UFC London on March 21, and the winner of that fight should be Volkanovski’s next opponent for a scrap sometime in the summer.
Diego Lopes
Diego Lopes is now 0-2 against Volkanovski, and he won’t get another title shot for quite some time. Lopes did have some moments in the fight, but he did break both of his feet in the bout, which likely hindered his performance.
Lopes should take some time off to recover and look to return in Q3 or Q4 of this year. When he does return, a logical next fight would be against someone like Arnold Allen or Youssef Zalal, as he’ll need to fight below him to defend his spot.