Storylines to Watch Following UFC 294

Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholders Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski are now expected to go their separate ways. Cue Steve Perry.

Makhachev seemed to close the book on their brief but eventful rivalry when he cut down the Aussie with a head kick and follow-up punches in the first round of their UFC 294 rematch on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Volkanovski—who had not been stopped in more than a decade—succumbed to blows 3:06 into Round 1, falling to 0-2 in his head-to-head series against the American Kickboxing Academy star. With no trilogy in the offing, the two men figure to return to ruling their respective weight classes.

The 31-year-old Makhachev appears to have his next target lined up at 155 pounds: Justin Gaethje, a former World Series of Fighting champion and arguably the most violent and exciting competitor in the sport. Gaethje has already made two unsuccessful bids to capture the lightweight crown, bowing to a triangle choke from Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 in October 2020 and surrendering to a rear-naked choke from Charles Oliveira at UFC 274. Oliveira, who was Makhachev’s original opponent at UFC 294 before an injury forced his withdrawal, still represents a potential fly in the ointment.

Should Volkanovski recover from his knockout loss without any complications, he plans to turn his attention at 145 pounds to face the undefeated Ilia Topuria in the UFC 297 headliner on Jan. 20. Topuria, 26, carries a perfect 14-0 record that features 12 finishes, eight of them by submission. He last fought at UFC on ABC 5, where he outpointed Josh Emmett to a unanimous decision across five rounds on June 24.

The forthcoming moves of Makhachev and Volkanovski represent one storyline to watch following UFC 294. Here are four more:

Claim Staked

Khamzat Chimaev took a significant step forward in his quest for title contention in the middleweight division, as he laid claim to a majority decision over Kamaru Usman in the co-main event. Scores were 29-27, 29-27 and 28-28. It was something of an uneven performance from the unbeaten Chechen, who dominated the first round, eased his foot of the gas in the second and turned up the heat again in the third. Nevertheless, posting a victory over someone with Usman’s pound-for-pound pedigree can only raise Chimaev’s stock further. Has he done enough to challenge reigning middleweight champion Sean Strickland? Probably so, even if Strickland has other ideas. Strickland struck gold at 185 pounds in September, when he pulled off a stunning upset of Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Ad-venture Capital

UFC 294 served as a showcase for three of the more promising prospects on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster: Ikram Aliskerov, Muhammad Mokaev and Sharabutdin Magomedov. Aliskerov improved to 15-1—a knockout loss to the aforementioned Chimaev remains the lone blemish on his resume—with a sensational finish of Warlley Alves, as he buried “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” Season 3 winner with a flying knee and follow-up punches in the first round of their middleweight attraction. Meanwhile, the undefeated Mokaev passed his most significant test to date with flying colors when he disposed of former Titan Fighting Championship titleholder Tim Elliott with a third-round arm-triangle choke in the featured flyweight prelim, pushing his record to a perfect 11-0. However, no one moved the intrigue needed quite like Magomedov, who entered his promotional debut as one of the more hyped talents in recent memory. The 29-year-old Russian rode dynamic, all-terrain skills—a hyperactive kicking game tipped his spear—to a unanimous decision over onetime M-1 Global champion Bruno Silva on the undercard. How the UFC pushes these three men moving forward will be a subject worth monitoring in the months and years ahead.

Size Matters

The deck was always going to be stacked against Jinh Yu Frey. A physical force at 105 pounds, the ex-Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder had to upshift to the women’s strawweight division when she signed with the UFC a little more than three years ago. While Frey has held her own in many regards, a 2-6 record with the organization speaks for itself. The 5-foot-2 Arkansas-born Texan wound up on the wrong side of unanimous decision against Victoria Dudakova in a three-round preliminary pairing, as she suffered her fourth consecutive defeat. With the UFC showing no signs of adding a women’s atomweight division anytime soon, Frey looks very much like someone who has run out of options in the Las Vegas-based organization.

A Case for Do-Overs

Two bouts at UFC 294 ended in controversial fashion, leaving the audience and participants wanting more. An accidental illegal knee from Magomed Ankalaev left Johnny Walker dazed and confused in the first round of their light heavyweight feature, leading to a no contest just 3:13 into the match. Walker appeared lucid, but when the Brazilian did not answer the doctor’s questions with enough clarity, referee Daniel Movahedi was advised to call for the stoppage. Tempers flared initially—security entered the Octagon to keep Walker and Ankalaev apart, followed by the promotion’s CEO himself—but cooler heads prevailed. Elsewhere, an inadvertent kick south of the border from Javid Basharat left Victor Henry unable to continue in the second round of their bantamweight tilt on the undercard. Despite the cageside physician’s puzzling assertion that the kick did not strike Henry in the groin, replays showed otherwise. It resulted in a disappointing no contest 15 seconds into Round 2. Will the UFC re-rack Ankalaev-Walker and Basharat-Henry in immediate rematches?