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Diego Lopes and Alexander Volkanovski currently dominate the conversation surrounding the next title challenger at featherweight. After beating Brian Ortega at Noche UFC 306, the Brazilian roared at Dana White to reward his efforts with a title shot.
It is easy to understand where he's coming from, and he's quickly become a fan favorite with an all-action style. But then there's Volkanovski, one of the greatest champions in 145-pound history, who has more than paid his dues. He too is demanding a crack at his old belt.
While the likes of Aljamain Sterling and Movsar Evloev are also campaigning for their title shots, whoever emerges from the UFC 308 main event as champion will almost certainly face either Lopes or Volkanovski. So, who should it be?
The argument for Diego Lopes
At Noche UFC 306, Diego Lopes improved to 26-6 and is currently on a five-fight win streak since suffering a short-notice loss to Movsar Evloev. The Brazilian has put in a tremendous amount of work since signing with the UFC and is deserving of the next title shot given the absence of traditionally credible challengers.
Besides Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, the only other fighters in the UFC featherweight top five—at least until the rankings are updated later today—are Arnold Allen, Yair Rodríguez, and Brian Ortega. 'Blessed' is already fighting for the title at UFC 308, while Volkanovski is 1-3 in his last four fights.
Allen just rebounded from a two-fight losing streak by scoring his first win since 2022, beating the #10 ranked Giga Chikadze at UFC 304. This isn't enough to earn a title shot. As for Rodríguez and Ortega, they're both coming off losses. Rodríguez is on a two-fight losing streak, and 'T-City' is 1-3 in his last four.
Check out the Diego Lopes vs. Dan Ige highlights:
That leaves Lopes in a strong position. Besides Holloway, he is the only soon-to-be top-five fighter on a win streak. Moreover, his five-fight win streak consists of beating Dan Ige, who he had less than a few hours to prepare for, and had to go through three weight changes - featherweight, lightweight, and catchweight.
This past Saturday, Lopes defeated Ortega, a two-time featherweight title challenger, who was on a high after submitting an ex-interim featherweight champion in Rodríguez. More importantly, Ortega is currently the #3 ranked fighter in the division.
Lopes, however, handed him a lopsided beating by rocking, dropping, and outgrappling the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace. While he couldn't finish the supernaturally tough Ortega, it is no knock on him as 'T-City' has never been submitted, and short of a doctor stoppage or freak injury, he's never been stopped by strikes either.
Check out Diego Lopes' knockdown of Brian Ortega:
So with Lopes' exploits at featherweight taken into account, he is more than deserving of a title shot. But what about Volkanovski?
Comparing Diego Lopes' merits to Alexander Volkanovski's privilege
The harsh truth of the matter is that Alexander Volkanovski does not deserve a title shot next. 'The Great' previously reigned as featherweight champion, successfully defending the belt five times, beating Max Holloway (2x), Brian Ortega, Chan Sung Jung, and Yair Rodríguez.
He dropped the belt to Ilia Topuria, who knocked him out at UFC 298. Unfortunately for the legendary Australian, he should not be in title-shot conversation, even in a hypothetical world where Diego Lopes does not exist. First, there is the issue of Volkanovski's recent run.
He is 1-3 in his last four fights, with a two-fight losing streak consisting of back-to-back knockouts suffered against Islam Makhachev during a lightweight excursion and a loss to Topuria back at featherweight. No one on a two-fight losing streak should be rewarded with a title shot.
This is especially true given that Volkanovski has only been in title fights since the end of 2019. He isn't some old veteran who never got the chance to fight for undisputed gold and this is his last crack.
He was won, and then some. The only metrics by which he deserves a title shot are his legacy and company man status.
He has a strong legacy, was an active champion, fought injured, and stepped in on very short notice against Makhachev to save the UFC 294 main event. For the latter deed, the UFC is certainly grateful.
But if José Aldo was refused an immediate rematch with Conor McGregor, what makes 'The Great' worthier?
Aldo is the greatest-ever featherweight, and statistically more accomplished. Yet he was denied a title shot off a loss to McGregor. Similarly, in the bantamweight division, Aljamain Sterling, the division's most accomplished champion, was denied an immediate rematch after losing his title to Sean O'Malley.
What makes Volkanovski more deserving than any either of the aforementioned two? He certainly isn't the kind of pay-per-view draw to deserve such favoritism. But most importantly, doing so would set a bad precedence, which it could come to regret.
The promotion already did this with Israel Adesanya by gifting him an immediate title shot after he lost the belt to Sean Strickland. This was made worse by the fact that before losing to 'Tarzan,' he was in another instant title fight with Alex Pereira just after losing the middleweight belt to the Brazilian.
Lopes should be given the next title shot and the UFC ought to stop entertaining the idea of gifting title shots to former champions off a loss when there are clearer contenders.
