MMA Mania Picks Next Fights for UFC 333 Main Card Winners

Adam Guillen of MMA Mania has listed who he would like to see the UFC 333 main card winners face next. He covers five fighters.

Volkanovski: Sterling or a move up

Alexander Volkanovski stopped Movsar Evloev in the second round for his second straight title defense. Guillen says one fresh fight remains at 145 pounds, against No. 4 Aljamain Sterling, who is booked to meet Kevin Vallejos next month. He adds that the fight "does not do much" for him at this stage of Volkanovski's career.

Volkanovski said after the fight that he will return at least once more. Guillen would rather see him try to become a champ-champ at lightweight. He says it should not be against champion Justin Gaethje yet. In his view the next shot belongs to Arman Tsarukyan, and Volkanovski could wait for the winner of that matchup.

Yan: O'Malley

Petr Yan beat Merab Dvalishvili for the second time to close their rivalry. Guillen wants Yan against Sean O'Malley next. He points out that the promotion appeared to push Song Yadong as the next contender, who attended the event in Abu Dhabi and got a shout-out from Daniel Cormier. Yan himself is not thrilled about facing O'Malley, Guillen writes, but it could be the matchup ordered, since O'Malley beat Song earlier this year. A rematch also has a story already built in, because O'Malley took a razor-thin split decision over Yan at UFC 280.

Kavanagh: Taira

Lone'er Kavanagh knocked out Ramazan Temirov and is now 2-2 in his last four. He is ranked No. 6, and Guillen suggests Tatsuro Taira, No. 4, who last lost a title fight to champion Joshua Van. He calls it a fresh fight at 125 pounds.

Volkov and Pico

Alexander Volkov asked for a title shot before the event and beat Rizvan Kuniev. Guillen does not think that earns it, because Sergei Pavlovich and Alex Pereira meet at UFC 335, and that winner could face the winner of Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit at UFC 334. Tom Aspinall, who vacated the belt with an eye injury, is also waiting to be cleared. Guillen's answer for Volkov is to wait and see.

Aaron Pico won his second straight UFC fight with a TKO of Losene Keita, who replaced the injured Arnold Allen on short notice. Guillen still wants Pico against Allen, who is ranked No. 6 while Pico is No. 14. Pico called for a rematch with Lerone Murphy, who knocked him out at UFC 319, but Guillen sees no sense in that so soon.

Source: MMA Mania