Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and men’s bantamweight champion Petr Yan both left UFC 333 with successful title defenses. Volkanovski finished formerly unbeaten Movsar Evloev in two rounds, while Yan beat Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision to close their trilogy.
Volkanovski is considering options beyond 145 pounds, including a move back to lightweight — the division that houses two of his three UFC losses. One suggested matchup is a bout with Charles Oliveira if Oliveira defends the BMF title against Diego Lopes at UFC 335 in December, a fight described as a logical next step for both fighters.
Volkanovski told ESPN in September that he was not keen on jumping the line to face Justin Gaethje, especially with Arman Tsarukyan waiting as an obvious contender. The piece noted that if Gaethje elects not to return, Tsarukyan could be next in line and that Volkanovski could be inserted into a title shot against him.
Evloev, facing his first professional loss, said he might try again at featherweight, a comment the story attributed in part to language barriers. The analysis positioned him as a likely gatekeeper for the division and suggested Pat Sabatini — 9-2 in the UFC — as a logical next opponent. Steve Garcia was listed as a wild-card option after a loss to Diego Lopes at UFC Freedom 250 in June.
For Yan, the biggest available matchup named was Sean O’Malley. Since O’Malley’s losses to Merab in 2024 and 2025, he is 2-0, with a close win over Song Yadong and a knockout of Aiemann Zahabi. O’Malley holds a controversial 2022 victory over Yan, and Song was also cited as having a strong case for a title shot, making rematches and cross-division showdowns the primary scenarios discussed following UFC 333.
