The featherweight division has come alive all of a sudden. Not too long ago, the UFC 145 division was stagnant. Alexander Volkanovski was the champ and had already beaten all the top contenders. Cleaned out the division if you will. But three men– Ilia Topuria, Diego Lopes, and Movsar Evloev breathed new life into the division.
Now Volkanovski once again holds the title, but the featherweight landscape is very different. A couple of superstars like Bellator’s generational prospect Aron Pico and Fighting Nerds team member, Jean Silva, have also emerged as contenders, so that featherweight has gone from a boring division where nothing ever happened to a dynamic and exciting division with multiple promising prospects who are knocking down the door.
In fact, Silva, coming off a fantastic victory over Bryce Mitchell at UFC 314, seems one step from fighting for the title if the rumors are true. According to MMA reporter, Emiel Sardarean, the UFC is looking to make the #11 Silva fight #2 Diego Lopes at UFC 318 in July headlined by Dustin Poirier‘s farewell fight with Max Holloway in New Orleans. Lopes, of course, is coming off a loss to ‘Volk’ at their UFC 314 title clash.
And UFC 318 is already getting criticized for its high ticket prices. The lowest ticket prices for the event for nosebleed seats at the moment on ‘StubHub’ are over $632. As you can imagine, many fans are incensed at these exorbitant prices, and feel like they have been priced out of the event. But if Silva-Lopes is added to the card, it would likely encourage more fans to buy tickets and PPV given the exciting nature of their matchup.
Alexander Volkanovski rumored to take on surprising opponent for next title defense
Which would be an excellent matchup that fans would pay handsomely to watch. After all, both men are fantastic, lights-out strikers with larger-than-life personalities and will almost definitely go to war if they fight. Lopes, of course, is remarkably heavy-handed and won all but one of his UFC fights so far. On the other hand, Silva is on his way to superstardom with his natural charisma and just the right amount of craziness.
While Lopes may not be helped much if he wins the fight, Silva will almost definitely get into the title picture should he win. According to Sardarean, Evloev is rumored to fight Aaron Pico next, which means he won’t be fighting for the title. Most would say that Evloev, still undefeated, and still the best grappler at 145, is the clear next title contender. Even ‘Volk’, prior to UFC 314, had said he wanted to fight Evloev next should he beat Lopes. But that is reportedly not going to be the case.
In fact, it seems Yair Rodriguez, who demolished Bellator GOAT, Patricio Pitbull, at UFC 314, will get the title nod against Volkanovski. The UFC, of course, is holding this year’s Noche card (UFC 320) in Guadalajara, Mexico. And since the UFC has no Mexican champions at the moment, it may be that Mexican star Rodriguez will get to rematch ‘Volk’ in front of a packed Mexican crowd in Guadalajara this September. What do you think about the prospects of Lopes-Silva next?
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