Alexander Volkanovski is 38 years old, he just stopped a man who had never lost, and the awkward truth coming out of UFC 333 is that nobody in line at 145 pounds looks ready to be next. Petr Yan has the reverse situation. His next fight was practically booked before he walked out Saturday night at Etihad Arena.
Volkanovski cleared the room
Volkanovski finished Movsar Evloev by TKO in Round 2, and MMA Mania’s recap described it as dominant, noting Evloev offered very little offense or resistance before it ended. That’s three straight wins and a second consecutive title defense for Volkanovski, which MMA Mania pointed out is his best run since 2022. Evloev earned this shot the hard way, through Lerone Murphy, Diego Lopes and Aljamain Sterling, and he still got handled. MMA Mania tabbed him the night’s biggest loser and figures he needs several more wins before the UFC considers him again. Harsh, but correct. Unbeaten grinders who get stopped in their first title fight rarely get an immediate redo.
MMA Mania also floated another move to lightweight for Volkanovski, on the theory that he’s running out of challenges at featherweight. I’d pump the brakes. The men who beat him in the UFC, Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria, are two of the best fighters alive, and a 38-year-old champion who is currently winning in dominant fashion has no business chasing that tier again when he has a belt to defend. Stay home, Alex. Let the division produce a challenger.
And it can, if the UFC makes the right fight. Stadium Rant, in a piece syndicated on Yahoo Sports, argued that Lerone Murphy vs. Jean Silva is the logical title eliminator, and I agree. Diego Lopes is off to lightweight, which clears a contender off the board. Murphy hasn’t fought since losing to Evloev in March, and watching the man who beat him get stopped in two rounds doesn’t exactly help his case, so he needs a statement. Silva has won two straight since his loss to Lopes more than a year ago and has made no secret of wanting the shot. Winner gets Volkanovski. That’s clean, it’s earned, and nobody has to pretend.
The rest of the top of the division is murkier. Yair Rodriguez is still sitting in the media rankings after almost two years of inactivity, which says more about the ranking panel than about Rodriguez. Aaron Pico picked up a win over Losene Keita on Saturday, but he’s a step behind Murphy and Silva for now.
Yan solved the hardest problem at 135
Yan’s unanimous decision over Merab Dvalishvili ended their trilogy and, per MMA Mania, came with a $100,000 bonus for a 25-minute fight that outlet called one of the best of 2026. The detail I care about most is the one MMA Mania highlighted: Yan’s takedown defense shut down Dvalishvili’s wrestling for most of the night. Stopping Merab’s chain wrestling for five rounds is the hardest defensive assignment at bantamweight, and Yan’s progress there is precisely the kind of real adjustment that separates a champion from a guy who just hits hard.
Next is obvious. In 2022, Yan was coming off losing the title to Aljamain Sterling when he dropped a controversial decision to Sean O’Malley. Before Saturday, Yan was already open to running it back: “Why not? For real, we have history, so why wouldn’t that be the fight?” Stadium Rant called it one of the most anticipated fights of 2027. Book it now. A rematch of a disputed decision, with the belt on the line, needs no extra selling.
The undercard winners
Dominick Reyes knocked out Azamat Murzakanov in Round 1 for his second straight win. He’s 5-1 in his last six, and the one loss came against current light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg. MMA Mania expects him to crack the Top 5, and the path back to Ulberg is visible from there.
The more interesting light heavyweight result came on the prelims. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev, the unbeaten Chechen Dana White’s Contender Series graduate, knocked out Nikita Krylov in Round 1. That’s his fourth straight UFC win and 11th overall, and he has gone the distance just once. He’s 25. In a division that spent 2026 absorbing ex-middleweights like Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder (all of whom won their debuts there), a 25-year-old finisher is worth more attention than he’s getting. Navajo Stirling, who could face Jiri Prochazka next month, is the other young name to watch.
Toronto is next
The UFC used the broadcast to announce the top of UFC 336 in Toronto. Manel Kape finally gets his flyweight title shot against Joshua Van, and Carlos Prates meets Michael Morales for the interim welterweight title with Makhachev unavailable. Kape has headlined and won three straight main events and would be just the second RIZIN alum to win UFC gold. Van is coming off a convincing decision over Alexandre Pantoja last month. Give me Van, on volume and pace, in the best fight on that card.
