Fights to Make After UFC 333`
by Zak Drapeau
Sportz Nation - 10/26/2026
CAlexander Volkanovski vs
vs WINNER of 4Sterling/ 9Vallejos
Volkanovski just set the record with 9 title defenses in the Featherweight division and is comfortably the GOAT of 145ers. For his next fight, there is a lot of speculation of a potential swan song between him and Justin Gaethje, and as much as I would LOVE to see it, I think the UFC will opt to keep the divisions moving forward especially with Gaethje's timetable seemingly seeing him come back in January or February.
That means Volk will defend against the next #1 contender in his division which should be the winner of Aljo Sterling vs Kevin Vallejos taking place in 4 weeks. The #4 vs #9 matchup sees Sterling coming off 2 straight Top-10 wins and the 24-year old Vallejos tearing up the UFC so far, with a 4-0 record with 2 straight knockouts. The winner of this fight should get a title shot around March or April and be a good adversary for Volk who will look for his 10th title defense in what could very well be the final fight of his Hall of Fame career.
1Movsar Evloev vs
5Jean Silva
Evloev got exposed this weekend after being a very safe and conservative fighter, he finally faced a worthy challenger and just crumbled under the pressure. He is still absolutely a great fighter who should get better from this experience and will continue to fight at the top of this division to try and get another title shot.
For me, the Featherweights have a very clear matchmaking moving forward. #1 Evloev takes on #5 Silva, Lerone Murphy takes on the loser of Sterling/Vallejos and the winner gets a title shot. For Evloev, this fight will get him a title eliminator if he wins or even a title shot if Volk retires and for Silva, a win surely means a title shot in his next fight.
CPetr Yan vs
3Sean O'Malley 2
The debate will be between Song Yadong and Sean O'Malley for the next shot at Petr Yan's title and while Song Yadong has a claim after his win over Umar, I think O'Malley is the CLEAR option.
Not only does he have a win over Yan and thus would make for a drawable fight with the Champion, but it's Sean O'Malley... of course the UFC will give him a title shot to try and seel the event. This is the fight game and if a fighter has a claim for a title shot and will NO DOUBT sell more tickets than the other guy, he's up next.
1Merab Dvalishvili vs
7Payton Talbott
There is a major reason I have Merab fighting the #7 ranked contender next and not someone in the Top-5, and that's because I obviously have Yan-O'Malley booked and I also want to see Song Yadong-Mario Bautista fight for a title eliminator.
That means that Dvalishvili gets a fighter lower in the rankings but in what should be a VERY interesting fight. Payton Talbott has been cleaning people's clocks lately and rocketing up the rankings. For Merab, he needs to go out and prove that he can exact his will through wrestling and cardio and Talbott should be someone he'd be welcome to proving that through.
6Lone'er Kavanaugh vs
4Tatsuro Taira
I really thought Kavanaugh was a bit overrated going into this fight but he definitely showed me how dangerous his striking is. I still believe that he was exposed two fights ago when he faced off against Brandon Royval but being that he ois Top-6 right now, this fight has to be next.
2Alexander Volkov vs
5Curtis Blaydes
Volkov has now won 7 of his last 8 all against Top-10 fighters and you'd assume he would be up next for a title shot. You'd assume wrong. His appearance at the 333 press conference was the most marketable thing he's ever done and was entertaining, but sadly for Volkov his fighting is much entertaining.
Volkov just isn't the kind of fighter the UFC wants to promote especially at the championship level. His fighting style is effective but boring and with fighters in the division like Ciryl Gane, Josh Hokit, Tom Aspinall, Sergei Pavlovich and now Alex Pereira, he will keep getting passed over again and again in favor of people that will actually sell tickets.
13Aaron Pico vs
7Arnold Allen
Pico vs Allen was originally the fight made until Allen pulled out to "continue rehabbing previous injuries". Well now that Pico firmly took out his replacement Losene Keita, let's run the fight back.
Pico is a super talented striker who is looking to jump into the Top-10 so it makes perfect sense to have him face Arnold Allen who himself, is one of the best strikers in the division. This fight was supposed to happen last weekend, only makes sense to make it probably sometime around February.
8Dominick Reyes vs
Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev
This fight might not be well receievd because some people would consider Reyes in line to fight Top-5 next but I got news for you, Yakhyaev IS Top-5, he just doesn't have the resume to prove it yet. And in the same sense, Reyes would be the perfect test for ARY as a battle-tested and lengthy striker.
Yakhyaev will probably have a 12-15 ranking come this week and should have a similar jump as Navajo Stirling as he continues to shoot through this division with 5th sub-3 minute knockout in as many fights in te UFC.
12Abus Magomedov vs
8Anthony Hernandez
Abus has now won 5 out of his last 6 in arguably all fights beneath him, so next he should finally get a chance to fight someone that could catapult him if he can finally get a marquee win. Fluffy Hernandez is in a tricky spot after losing back-to-back fights and should probably get someone like Magomedov next anyway.
This fight would probably even be able to headline a Fight Night. It would definitely be competitive with Abus being one of the better strikers outside the Top-5 and Fluffy probably being the best wrestler not named Chimaev.
Iasmine Lucindo vs
12Amanda Lemos 2
Lucindo has won 6 of her last 7 fights against some lowkey very good competition. Her only loss came 18 months ago in her first fight against a ranked opponent; Amanda Lemos. In that time, Lucindo has won both her fights and Lemos has lost all 3 of hers so running this fight back, probably for that #12 ranking makes a bunch of sense and keeps the division running.
Other Fights to Make
Ramazan Temirov vs Sumudaerji
Rizvan Kuniev vs Mario Pinto
Losene Keita vs Nathaniel Wood
Azamat Murzakanov vs Muhammad Saidov
Nikita Krylov vs Christian Edwards
Cam Rowston vs Damian Pinas
Grant Dawson LOSER of Moicano/Nolan
Nurullo Aliev vs Tofiq Musayev
Colby Thicknesse vs Ricky Simon
Asaf Chopurov vs Ricky Turcois
Abubakar Vagaev vs Marco Tulio
Jacob Malkoun vs Ismail Naurdiev
Daniel Santos vs William Gomis
Kody Steele vs
Noah Gugnon vs
Iasmin Lucindo vs
Nicolle Caliari vs
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