A day after UFC 333, attention is already turning to what comes next. The UFC’s own website and Sherdog are floating names for Petr Yan’s and Alexander Volkanovski‘s next title defenses, along with several other winners from fight night in Abu Dhabi.
Sean O’Malley rematch talk heats up for Petr Yan
Petr Yan retained his bantamweight title over Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision (48-47 on all three scorecards), closing out their trilogy at two wins to one. For his next move, UFC.com floats two names: Song Yadong, shown on the broadcast as next in line after his knockout of Umar Nurmagomedov earlier this year, and Sean O’Malley, who already has wins over Song in January and Aiemann Zahabi in June at the UFC’s White House card. Sherdog goes further and calls for an outright rematch between Yan and O’Malley, pointing out that the American beat the Russian by contested split decision back in 2022. The site calls it a no-brainer and the only fight that makes sense at 135 pounds right now. UFC.com, for its part, suggests Dvalishvili is unlikely to get another title shot anytime soon while Yan holds the belt.
Aljamain Sterling floated as a superfight for Volkanovski
With his second-round TKO of previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev, Alexander Volkanovski pushed his featherweight title-fight win total to nine, making him the division’s sole record holder ahead of Jose Aldo. UFC.com does not name a next opponent but notes this marks his third straight defense since reclaiming the belt. Sherdog instead proposes former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, who moved up to featherweight, arguing the division is short on strong contenders at the moment. The site favors Volkanovski in a superfight between two former champions.
Alexander Volkov waiting on the Gane-Hokit winner
At heavyweight, Alexander Volkov outpointed Rizvan Kuniev for his third straight win. UFC.com and Sherdog agree on the logical next step: a fight against the winner of Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit, set for November 14 in New York for the undisputed title. Sherdog notes Volkov is ranked above Hokit and that part of the fan base viewed his 2024 decision loss to Gane as a robbery. The site adds that the fight makes itself unless Tom Aspinall, sidelined since vacating the title in September for medical reasons, returns soon and in form. Gane, the first French fighter to hold the undisputed UFC heavyweight title, will be defending it for the first time against Hokit, an American fighter ranked No. 4 in the division.
Dominick Reyes, Aaron Pico and the other names to watch
Dominick Reyes stopped Azamat Murzakanov in the first round and is now 5-1 in his last six fights. UFC.com says he is in line for a clash with a top-five light heavyweight, with a win there potentially putting him back in title contention. At featherweight, Aaron Pico finished Losene Keita in 74 seconds and improved to 2-1 inside the Octagon. UFC.com simply notes the interest in seeing him build on the momentum, while Sherdog names a specific opponent, former interim champion Yair Rodriguez, fresh off a win over Patricio Freire. At flyweight, Lone’er Kavanagh stopped Ramazonbek Temirov in under a round, a month after upsetting Brandon Moreno. UFC.com sees him as a future challenger for champion Joshua Van, while Sherdog pitches a fight against Tatsuro Taira, who lost to Van but beat Moreno, with the winner left a fight or two from a title shot in a stacked division.
Dawson, Magomedov and Lucindo: other threads to watch
Further down the card, Grant Dawson outpointed Nurullo Aliev to hand him his first professional loss, a result that could relaunch Dawson’s lightweight run if he tightens up his defense against power strikers. Abus Magomedov submitted Cam Rowston with a guillotine choke, his second submission of the year and fifth win in six fights at middleweight, which UFC.com says should earn him a step up in competition next time out. On the women’s side, Iasmin Lucindo outpointed Nicolle Caliari and, per UFC.com, should reclaim a spot in the strawweight top 15 after losing her ranking to an anti-doping sanction. None of the three has an announced next opponent yet.
Nothing official yet
None of these fights is officially announced, and the UFC has not released a schedule for its featherweight and bantamweight champions beyond UFC 333. The next numbered card is UFC 334 on November 14 in New York, followed by UFC 335 on December 12 in Las Vegas. Full rankings are updated after every fight night on our UFC rankings page, with complete results on our UFC results page.
