Alexander Volkanovski names three potential opponents for next UFC fight after Movsar Evloev

Alexander Volkanovski has an idea of who he might fight next if he is victorious at UFC 333 this weekend. Volkanovski has touched down in Abu Dhabi for the UFC’s latest show on Saturday , ahead of his featherweight title defence against undefeated Russian Movsar Evloev. ‘The Great’ is in his second reign as featherweight champion, having reclaimed the belt against Diego Lopes last year and defended it in a rematch with the Brazilian at UFC 325, after back-to-back knockout losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria . Volkanovski has teased a potential super-fight with UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in a dual-retirement bout if he gets past Evloev in the main event of UFC 333 . However, the Australian may stay at 145lbs and keep cementing his legacy if he gets the job done again on Saturday. If that’s the case, he has three top featherweight contenders in mind for his next title defence. Volkanovski lists possible future title fights “After Movsar, you’ve got Jean Silva, you’ve got Aljamain [Sterling], who are both pretty much in the exact same position,” Volkanovski told MMA Junkie. “They’re the ones who stand out the most right now. There’s another one – [Kevin Vallejos] there. So whether Kevin can get a title fight that quick and jump the line, I don’t know. “At the same time, Aljamain and Silva, they’re probably closest. But Kevin, he’s definitely someone – this is a test for him. “You see a lot of guys who look good until they fight a veteran with fight IQ that’s calculated. “Kevin is going to have a tough one here, but if he proves himself, he’s going to show that he deserves to be at the top.” Vallejos has surged into the top 10 of the UFC featherweight rankings following consecutive Performance of the Night-winning knockouts. UFC featherweight rankings Top 10 Alexander Volkanovski – champion Movsar Evloev Diego Lopes Lerone Murphy Aljamain Sterling Jean Silva Arnold Allen Pat Sabatini Pavel Andrusca Youssef Zalal Kevin Vallejos The 24-year-old from Argentina is scheduled to face Sterling in Qatar next month, where victory would put him in a great position for a title shot. Sterling, meanwhile, has got his career back on track with wins over top-ranked contenders Brian Ortega and Youssef Zalal in his last two UFC appearances. ‘Funk Master’ has only suffered two defeats to Evloev and fellow former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley in the last nine years. The American is ranked one place above Brazilian standout Silva, whose two wins over Arnold Allen and Jose Delgado this year put him on the brink of a first UFC title shot. Of course, Volkanovski is definitely not underestimating Evloev, but all three of the aforementioned featherweight contenders are suitable next opponents depending on how their next fights unfold. Volkanovski is confident he can finish Evloev in ‘wild fashion’ – but at 38 years old, he will need to be at his very best to land his opponent’s first career defeat. talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankings talkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond. Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it. UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out. His fight at UFC 333 is supported by champion Petr Yan’s highly anticipated bantamweight title trilogy against Merab Dvalishvili.