Video: Is Ilia Topuria the clear-cut next best option for UFC champ Alexander Volkanovski?
Had Aljamain Sterling beaten Sean O'Malley earlier this month, the options for Alexander Volkanovski might have looked a lot different.
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Had Aljamain Sterling beaten Sean O’Malley earlier this month, the options for Alexander Volkanovski might have looked a lot different.
A win for Sterling may have had him ready to leave the bantamweight division for a move to featherweight – and historically, the UFC loves those champ-vs.-champ matchups, so Volkanovski may have been set to put his featherweight title on the line against Sterling.
Sterling still might move up to featherweight after his loss to O’Malley, but he no longer would be an automatic contender for a fight with the 145-pound champ. Instead, Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) still likely is looking at either a fight with unbeaten top contender Ilia Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who hasn’t been shy with his thoughts about the Australian, or a rematch with lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC), who handed Volkanovski his only octagon loss at UFC 284 in February.
Volkanovski beat interim champ Yair Rodriguez to unify the featherweight belts in July. Topuria is coming off a dominant win over Josh Emmett. But Makhachev’s win over Volkanovski in February was close enough that there’s still an argument to be made for a rematch, even if it keeps the featherweight title on hold. At one point, Volkanovski seemed to be leaning toward Makhachev. But what’s the latest, and what makes most sense?
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Farah Hannoun, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Danny Segura break all that down with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below.