Александр Волкановскийн домогт замнал UFC 333-ын дараах өрнөл

Alexander Volkanovski continues to defy Father Time.

On Saturday, Volkanovski added another magnificent title defense to his legendary résumé, stopping the previously undefeated Movsar Evloev in the main event of UFC 333. If there was any doubt beforehand, Volkanovski has now certainly solidified himself as one of the greatest fighters of all time, but at 38 years old, it’s fair to wonder what comes next for The Great and how much longer he will continue on.

Volkanovski was not the only champion to deliver a sterling performance on Saturday, though. In the co-main event on Saturday, Petr Yan put on a masterclass against his rival Merab Dvalishvili, taking a unanimous decision to retain his bantamweight title and end the debate between the two.

So, where do these two great fighters go from here? And what about the rest of UFC 333? The MMA Fighting brain trust has circled the wagons to discuss.

1. What’s next for Alexander Volkanovski?

Lee: When you’ve done it all in this business, and still find time to run through an undefeated challenger like they’re a UFC debutant, you can pretty much do everything you want.

So let me make the case for an Ilia Topuria rematch.

It makes a ton of sense for Alexander Volkanovski to be angling for that Justin Gaethje superfight, but I wonder if Topuria were willing to drop back down to 145, and if Volkanovski was given the chance to avenge that loss, would he choose that instead? I’d love to see it, not just because I feel like Topuria left the division prematurely—though he won another belt and then headlined at the White House, so no regrets—but because it gives Volkanovski a chance to end the featherweight GOAT debate once and for all (if it isn’t over already).

Martin: Honestly? Whatever he wants.

In my opinion, Alexander Volkanovski has solidified his reign as the greatest featherweight of all-time, and he really has nothing left to prove. If he chooses to stick at 145, he could potentially face someone like Jean Silva, although I’m not sure how much that adds to his already stellar legacy. Volkanovski mentioned moving to 155 pounds again and challenging Justin Gaethje, and that could be a perfect exit for his career. But that also hinges on Gaethje’s interest, as he’s also nearing retirement.

Here’s my best option: Aljamain Sterling finds a way past Kevin Vallejos, and he gets his title shot, and that would also be a fitting swan song for Volkanovski if he’s not getting Gaethje. Sterling has enough credentials of his own that it would add to Volkanovski’s if they fought, and it’s something new and different.

Meshew: It seems like the answer is going to be Justin Gaethje. Before UFC 333, Volkanovski began pitching the idea of a superfight with the UFC lightweight champion, suggesting they could both simply vacate their titles to do it. Now that he’s won, though, Volk has slightly changed his tune, saying they could fight for the lightweight title in a double retirement bout, and while I, personally, hate that idea, that kind of seems to be where the wind is blowing.

Arman Tsarukyan deserves to fight for the lightweight title; no one alive should debate that. But the UFC has been happy to snub him before, and Dana White himself said it would be hard to deny Volk anything he wants. And enough of the fan base loves Volk so much that they’re already pushing for a Volk vs. Gaethje matchup. 1 + 1 = 2. MY guess is Volk’s getting yet another crack at becoming a two-division champion, and Arman will continue to be the best lightweight on Earth, but without the hardware to show it.

2. Is Petr Yan the bantamweight GOAT?

Admittedly, this is more of a vibes call along with a healthy heap of recency bias. We just saw him put on back-to-back virtuoso championship performances! Let me have this!

But yeah, Yan is now up in his series against his top contemporary, Dvalishvili. If he fought prime Dominick Cruz, I’m picking Yan. If he fought Aljamain Sterling again, I’d pick him to finally beat him, too, because he was on his way to doing so in their first fight before The Strike That Shall Not Be Named happened, and their second fight was razor close.

Simply put, when Yan is on his game, I’ve never seen a better man at 135 pounds.

Remember we were just calling Merab Dvalishvili the bantamweight GOAT not that long ago, and now two losses later, he’s already being tossed on the garbage heap? Yan still has some work to do to truly define himself as the best ever at 135 pounds, and it starts with racking up some title defenses. Whether he faces Song Yadong or Sean O’Malley next, Yan just needs to get some more title defenses under his belt and stay away from controversy like what happened with his first reign as champion.

Let’s revisit this discussion after Yan has at least two more title defenses on his resume and then he might capture that mythical crown.

Meshew: No. Of course not. Not every fighter who wins a fight is the GOAT. And it’s obviously very dumb for the UFC to have been pushing that narrative at all. Yan isn’t even ahead of Merab in the GOAT conversation! This was the man’s first successful title defense! WHY CAN’T WE BE REASONABLE ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING?!

Greatness is a measure of achievement. Yan has not achieved nearly as much as Dominick Cruz has, and still not quite as much as Merab or arguably even Aljamain Sterling has. Might he go on to do that? Absolutely, he’s phenomenal. But I’m old enough to remember the last time we thought Yan was about to go on a championship reign to rival the all-time greats, and then he punted his title away to Aljo and couldn’t find his way back to the belt for years.

Please, for the love of all things, just let these guys actually stack up the accolades to truly earn the title. I promise you it’s better than anointing every new champion as the GOAT, because the best things in life take time.

3. Biggest Winner (outside of main and co-main)

Lee: The Big Yak Train is chugging along. All abooooaaaaard!

Abdul Rakhman Yakhaev continued his absurd finishing streak, having stopped each of his opponents in the first round since he stepped into the octagon for his Contender Series shot in 2025. Check out his past five fights and their stoppage times:

He turns 26 in January. Hop on the hype train while there’s still room, because the future light heavyweight GOAT is on his way.

Martin: Aaron Pico had a great night at the office, and he did it on the same card where the featherweight championship was being defended.

Pico made quick work of Losene Keita, and while it wasn’t as high profile as finishing somebody like Arnold Allen (who he was supposed to fight), he looked great in his execution. We all know Alexander Volkanovski doesn’t have a ton of time left in the sport, and he’s eventually going to have to hand the reins of this division to somebody else. Pico has been touted as the future of the sport since he was a teenager, and now he seems to be living up to that potential.

Meshew: Alexander Volkanovski is the talk of UFC 333, but it’s another Alexander Volk — Alexander Volkov — who is the Baddest Man on the Planet.

The UFC heavyweight division is in shambles, and has been so for years. We all hoped Tom Aspinall would be the guy to bring some stability to the weight class, but then the Ciryl Gane fiasco happened, and he’s out indefinitely. As a result, Gane somehow ended up the “undisputed” heavyweight champ, but the truth is, there’s one man who’s the real champion of this weight class, and it’s Volkov.

Only a handful of people alive believe that Gane beat Volkov in their rematch, which means that “Drago” should be on an eight-fight winning streak in the weight class with five consecutive wins against ranked opponents. He kept that momentum going with a workmanlike win over Rizvan Kuniev on Saturday, but more importantly, it seems like the fans have finally gotten behind the big man.

Volkov’s next fight is for the belt, or we riot.

Lee: Sorry, Movsar, nice guys finish last. Especially in MMA.

Evloev spent the past few years patiently waiting for his turn, beating contender after contender and then when the lights were shining brightest, he got trucked by a generational champion. There’s no shame in it and, honestly, there’s no shame in taking the loss so well afterwards. Evloev gave Volkanovski his props and, for all intents and purposes, just looked happy to be there.

That’s not going to fly with UFC decision-makers, who weren’t exactly in a rush to give Evloev a title shot in the first place, nor a certain segment of fans who prefer their fighters to be on the unhinged and delusional side as opposed to emotionally measured. I like Evloev, but there was just no compelling promotional spark before, during, or after his title opportunity, and it’s not an exaggeration to predict he’ll have to rattle off another 10 wins to fight for the title again.

Martin: Unfortunately, this all falls on Merab Dvalishvili because now he’s in the same position he put Sean O’Malley in when he was champion. Losing twice to the current person holding the belt almost always puts you in no man’s land, and as phenomenal as the trilogy was, Dvalishvili now has a pair of losses to Petr Yan.

The third fight was phenomenal, and Dvalishvili was only one round away from winning, but ultimately he lost. No matter how you cut it, he’s now stuck looking at playing gatekeeper for a little while as Yan officially begins his latest reign as bantamweight champion.

Meshew: Per my above answer, the correct choice might be Arman Tsarukyan, but if that ends up not happening, the answer is probably Nikita Krylov. Krylov has been a top-15 fighter for a long time, but it seems like his time is coming to an end. He’s 1-4 over his past 5, and all five of those losses have come by stoppage. Whenever that happens, the end is usually near.

Lee: MMA at its best, and a perfect example of what the UFC is capable of when it builds a proper card for a numbered event.

Martin: UFC 333 delivered in every way, shape, and form with two great title fights and some really compelling undercard matchups. Matchmakers take a bow.

Meshew: Jack Slack said it better than I ever could.