Post UFC 325: What’s next for Alexander Volkanovski?

UFC 325 is now one for the books and coming out of it, we know one thing for sure. Alexander Volkanovski is the best featherweight walking planet earth today and maybe ever.

Yet again, The Great defied his 37 years by floating around the octagon, picking his opponent, Diego Lopes, off with ease and putting a stamp on a dominant title defence.

Of course, after a successful title defence, the question is always asked: What’s next for Alexander Volkanovski? Let’s try and answer that question.

What’s next for Alexander Volkanovski?

The Logical Pick – The Winner of Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev

Just days after Alexander Volkanovski made his first successful defence of his second reign as featherweight king, the UFC announced the main event for UFC London this March. Two undefeated stars in Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy will meet in the main event and realistically, the winner should face Volkanovski for the title next.

They’re both deserving of a shot at the belt and ultimately, both pose a different threat to the champion. The Russian would likely look to wrestle Volkanovski and grind out a decision, whereas Murphy is much more well-rounded and would strike with the champion, a difficult task in itself.

In either case, the Aussie would come in as the favorite as he usually is. In the Lopes fight, he opened as the favorite, with huge betting swings.

There’s no doubt that after his big win at UFC 325, Alexander Volkanovski will be keeping a close eye on the UFC London main event.

The Illogical but Possible Pick – Jean Silva

During the UFC 325 post-fight press conference, the champion made one thing very clear. He’s only going to face those who are deserving. He commented:

A champion’s responsibility is to defend the belt.
It doesn’t matter who it’s against.
If the company puts someone in front of you, you fight.
Champions don’t pick opponents. Champions defend.

— Jean “Lord” Silva (@Jeansilvamma96) February 1, 2026

Silva seemingly has an issue with Volkanovski, which potentially stems from his teammate from The Fighting Nerds, Mauricio Ruffy, going to train with Volkanovski ahead of his own fight at UFC 325.

Silva also posted a video discussing Volkanovski, where he said:

“I know that Volkanovski is asking for Evloev, I don’t know. He’s asking the guys not to get hurt. Bro, sorry to inform you if you want to stay good and without getting hurt, I understand you. But if you want to fight a guy who hits hard, I’m your guy and I will tell you more: I’m going there to camp with Topuria to break you. I’ll let you know. I’ll warn you, I go there.”

The champion responded by shutting down any underlying heat between the two men.

There’s no doubting that Jean Silva doesn’t deserve a title shot. He was knocked out by Diego Lopes just one fight previously and, despite a lot of hype around his career, is just 4-1 at featherweight.

The Ambitious Pick – Arman Tsarukyan

This one is a little out there, but after hinting at it himself, Arman Tsarukyan could be in the featherweight title picture if given the opportunity.

The #2 lightweight in the world is out of favour with the UFC, however, a drop down in weight for an interesting clash with the champion could be on the cards. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Tsarukyan said that her would consider a move down to 145lbs to contest for the belt.

Alexander Volkanovski responded before his UFC 325 victory, stating:
“He would obviously be a tough challenge if he could get down there, that would definitely be a tough challenge.”

The UFC is unlikely to grant Tsarukyan the chance to move down to featherweight, especially after rumours that he struggles to make lightweight (potentially leading to the cancellation of his UFC 311 bout).

Who do you want to see Alexander Volkanovski face off against next? Let us know in the comments below!