Alexander Volkanovski's UFC 333 Win Raises Questions About His Future

There were plenty of questions surrounding how the UFC featherweight championship fight would play out at UFC 333. Would Movsar Evloev overwhelm Alexander Volkanovski with his wrestling? Would Volk’s striking be too much if Evloev was barely able to get by Lerone Murphy last time out?

The answer turned out to be not only that Volkanovski’s striking was too much, but that, while most people thought the fight would last a while, the champion instead took his challenger out in just under 10 minutes in Abu Dhabi.

Both men looked to establish their strategy in the opening round, with Evloev trying to get his grappling going, mixing in strikes. Volkanovski landed his fair share and tried to get his pressure going. His hand speed, however, did appear to be slower than what we’re used to seeing from him.

Perhaps it was just him trying to feel out his challenger. Perhaps it was just age showing – Volk just turned 38 last month. Whatever the case, Volkanovski turned things up in a big way during the second round.

Evloev looked to score a takedown in the opening seconds of round two, but Volkanovski found an opening and reversed the position, ending up on top and controlling the action there while doing damage. The Australian UFC champion then fully took over, as his striking picked up and momentum was comfortably on his side.

Then, with mere seconds left in the round, Volkanovski landed a combination, with a left punch doing damage and a right punch sending Evloev to the mat. Volkanovski then peppered Evloev on the ground with shots, with the challenger offering no defense in return as he just covered up. The referee stepped in before the horn, and Volkanovski added another successful title defense to his resume.

This now marks the second successful defense of Volkanovski’s second reign as featherweight champion. With the exception of an approximate year-long period where Ilia Topuria ruled as champion after dethroning him, Volkanovski has reigned over the UFC’s 145-pound division since the end of 2019.

And with him still looking strong at 38, it has sparked questions about who can be next to challenge for the title. Lerone Murphy is the next highest-ranked by contender status, and plenty of people felt he should have been awarded the nod over Evloev earlier this year and that this title shot should have been his. But Murphy hasn’t fought since that bout, and we shouldn’t be awarding title shots to fighters coming off losses.

Plenty of people scored that fight a draw, too, and that had sparked conversation about Jean Silva getting a shot. He’s been one of the most entertaining fighters on the UFC’s 145-pound roster, 7-1 since his UFC debut in 2024. While he was nearly the victim of a scare from Jose Delgado at Noche UFC last month, he’s had plenty of memorable fights and finishes, taking UFC fan and media awards like candy from a baby. There’s no doubt in this fighter’s mind that he and Volkanovski could produce one of the more memorable featherweight title fights in promotion history.

There is also the wildcard of former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. He’ll be competing in the co-main event of UFC Qatar next month, taking on Kevin Vallejos. While not as entertaining a run as Silva’s, Sterling is 3-1 in the weight class since moving up. In fact, his only featherweight loss came against Evloev. A win after fighting down in the rankings should give Sterling at minimum a title eliminator next. But if he has a memorable finish, he may just jump both Murphy and Silva for a title opportunity.

But then came a curveball – following his win, Volkanovski expressed interest in potentially moving up to 155 and going after champ-champ status again. He attempted this twice against Islam Makhachev, coming up short both times. Could he be successful against Justin Gaethje, as “The Highlight” prepares for perhaps one or two more fights before calling it a career?

Whatever the case, all praise has to go to Volkanovski for what he’s accomplished in the cage so far. And at 38, he continues to perform at the highest level. No matter how much longer the rest of his run is, let’s appreciate his fights while we still have him active and competing.