Image: John Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration

Featherweight

Topuria called his shot and delivered, as he knocked out Charles
Oliveira in the UFC 317 headliner. With the victory, “El Matador”
becomes the first undefeated fighter to be a two-division UFC
champion. Topuria now has successive knockout victories over
Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Oliveira — a run that’s as
impressive as any in recent memory. After taking the first portion
of 2026 off to attend to personal issues, Topuria will face Justin
Gaethje in the main event of the UFC White House card on June 14.
At featherweight, the Georgian-Spaniard’s rankings eligibility will
expire on April 26, 2026.
It’s a testament to Volkanovski’s overall greatness that he made a
rematch with Diego Lopes seem relatively uneventful, as he cruised
to a unanimous decision triumph at UFC 325 in front of his home
fans in Sydney, Australia. Volkanovski has now tied Jose Aldo for
the most all-time featherweight title victories with eight, further
cementing his legacy in the division. Volkanovski will look ahead
to a future matchup with the likes of Lerone Murphy or Movsar
Evloev.

After more than a year on the sidelines, Evloev got back to work at
UFC London, outdueling Lerone Murphy in a closely contested
majority decision triumph on March 21. Despite the bout being
billed as a featherweight title eliminator ahead of time — and
Alexander Volkanovski accepting Evloev’s callout on the UFC
post-fight show — promotion head Dana White wasn’t ready to commit
to the Russian as the division’s No. 1 contender. Whether that
changes with time remains to be seen, as Evloev’s string of 10
straight decision wins in the UFC could prove to be a hindrance to
his cause.
The third time proved to be the charm for Holloway, who played the
role of spoiler by defeating Dustin Poirier via unanimous decision
in the UFC 318 headliner in New Orleans. While Poirier bids the
sport farewell, “Blessed” looks capable of making a run at 155
pounds at this stage of his UFC career. Holloway will next put his
BMF belt on the line in a rematch against Charles Oliveira — more
than 15 years after their first meeting — in the UFC 326 main
event. At featherweight, Holloway’s rankings eligibility will
expire on April 26, 2026.

Despite receiving a relatively quick rematch against Alexander
Volkanovski, Lopes couldn’t solve the puzzle of the great in their
championship clash at UFC 325, losing a relatively clear-cut
unanimous decision in Sydney, Australia on Jan. 31. Two losses
likely remove the Brazilian from the championship conversation for
the foreseeable future. The Lobo Gym MMA standout will return
against streaking featherweight finisher Steve Garcia at the UFC
White House event on June 14.
Silva was violent yet tactical at UFC 324, as he outdueled Arnold
Allen en route to a unanimous decision triumph in their bout at the
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Jan. 24. Not only does “Lord”
rebound from a loss to Diego Lopes at Noche UFC in September 2024,
but he remains in the thick of the title hunt at 145 pounds. The
Fighting Nerds standout has been victorious in six of seven Octagon
appearances overall.
Murphy started well and remained competitive throughout the UFC
London main event, but he nonetheless suffered his first career
defeat to Movsar Evloev in a featherweight title eliminator on
March 21. Though more than a few observers thought the fight should
have been scored in Murphy’s favor — or at the very least, a draw —
the official verdict marks an end to the Englishman’s nine-fight
winning streak in the promotion. Given the close nature of the
defeat, Murphy’s stock shouldn’t fall too far at 145 pounds.
After spending about a year and a half on the shelf due to a
shoulder injury, Allen came up short in his promotional return,
dropping a three-round verdict to Jean Silva at UFC 324. The
32-year-old Allen has lost three of his last four UFC outings
dating back to April 2023. The Englishman will look to rebound
against the streaking Melquizael Costa in the UFC Fight Night 276
main event on May 16.
Rodriguez gave Patricio Freire a rude welcome to the featherweight
division at UFC 314, controlling the range with his versatile
striking arsenal to take a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph
over the former Bellator champion at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
That ends a two-fight losing streak for “El Pantera,” was rumored
to be receiving a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski at Noche
UFC before the event was moved from Guadalajara to San Antonio.
Shaidullaev wrecked Japanese fan favorite Mikuru Askaura in the
Rizin “Shiwasu no Cho Tsuwamono Matsuri” headliner, retaining his
featherweight crown with a first-round technical knockout on Dec.
31 in Saitama, Japan. The Kyrgyz standout is now 6-0 under the
Rizin banner, with all but one of those victories coming inside of
a round. The 25-year-old has finished all 18 of his victims inside
the distance and has clearly established himself as of the top
145-pound talents in the world, regardless of promotion.

Other Contenders: Youssef
Zalal, Timur
Khizriev, Aljamain
Sterling, Steve
Garcia, Movlid
Khaybulaev.

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