UFC 325 is in the books, and Alexander Volkanovski remains the featherweight champion. In his second shot at Volkanovski, Diego Lopes didn’t bring much new to the table, resulting in a fight that looked extremely similar to their first encounter less than a year ago. So what does this win mean for Volkanovski’s legacy, and what about the rest of UFC 325?
Alexander K. Lee, Mike Heck, and Jed Meshew discuss.
1. What’s your blurb review of UFC 325?
Heck: We had some fun along the way, but meh — and why did the UFC run back this main event? C- grade, overall, and that might be generous.
Lee: Alexander Volkanovski came, he saw, and he conquered… the same dude he fought 10 months ago? For… reasons?
Meshew: That was a colossal waste of everyone’s time, and probably the worst outcome for the UFC.
2. What did Alexander Volkanovski’s win over Diego Lopes mean?
Heck: Very little, unfortunately, for his overall fighting legacy. Hey, even Dana White said if you don’t like it (and many didn’t), don’t watch it (and many, I’d guess, didn’t), but Volkanovski probably gained a fair amount when it comes to business.
There’s no doubt Volkanovski drew whatever house attended UFC 325, and the fans in the arena were going bananas for him during his walkout and throughout the entire fight. “The Great” said many times throughout the build to the event that he was looking to renegotiate his contract with the UFC, and after pitching (in my opinion) a shutout against Lopes in a rematch, methinks he’ll get rewarded with a few more sheckels — even though he deserves more than he’ll get, which is another conversation.
Lee: Father Time has to wait a little longer to claim that decisive win over Ol’ Volk.
I’ll never complain about having the opportunity to watch Volkanovski do his thing, even if it’s against a challenger who, if we’re being generous, was maybe fifth or sixth in my personal featherweight contender line. And even though he was favored, there was still a shred of doubt that Volkanovski wouldn’t be able to overcome Lopes’ size and youth, so he deserves points for that.
Realistically, what this means is Volkanovski is still available to pass the torch to Movsar Evloev or Lerone Murphy, or another worthy featherweight contender, something he’s been pushing for since he became champion again back in April.
Meshew: Honestly, I don’t know. Since this fight was first announced, I’ve been trying to figure out what a Volkanovski win would mean, and after watching it, I’m no closer to having a concrete opinion.
Defending a title is the most difficult thing to do in MMA, and so by that metric, Volkanovski added another to the woodpile. But there’s the marginal asterisk of Ilia Topuria hanging over it, and that’s made all the worse by this being basically the same fight as the first Lopes bout. I learned nothing new about Volkanovski on Saturday other than Father Time hasn’t tackled him yet.
And frankly, that’s frustrating. Volkanovski is an all-time great fighter, and he’s building a legacy case to surpass Jose Aldo as the featherweight GOAT, and so wasting a key building block in the case on this fight kind of stinks. Had Volkanovski butchered Lopes this time around and finished him, or had Lopes looked improved and different from their first encounter, then I could at least say this was a great win. But neither of those things happened.
Because of his age, any Volkanovski win at this point will be a reminder of how great he is, because all-time greats age gracefully in this sport, but this was about the worst one possible, and when we’re talking about only a few Volk fights left, this felt like a huge waste.
3. Where does Diego Lopes go from here?
Heck: I know a lot of people — including my buddy Jed here — feel like Lopes “will be fine” after losing to Volkanovski for the second time in less than a year in championship opportunities, but I actually disagree. The loss here feels pretty bad, honestly, for Lopes’ future championship hopes.
One of the reasons I disliked this matchmaking so much is that Lopes gained so much momentum in his win over Jean Silva, and throwing him back in a title fight by skipping over the contender line was such a bad matchmaking look, which led Lopes to take the brunt of it. Mind you, that was totally unfair, because why in the world would Lopes or his team turn down a title fight? The UFC wanted to strap the rockets to Lopes, and it went poorly, as most suspected it would. In the first fight, Lopes had a couple of moments, but it was mostly all Volk. On Saturday, it looked like Lopes was rolling a boulder uphill for 25 minutes, and it kept flattening him on the way down. This was a big risk for the UFC, and for Lopes, and it was worth taking for the latter, obviously, but it didn’t go well.
Don’t get me wrong, Lopes will be a fan-favorite and a must-see action fighter. Many in his position have had wildly successful careers in that role. And who knows? Maybe Silva becomes the featherweight champion, and if that happens, Lopes would benefit more than anybody in the division. Outside of that, I’m not locking the door on Lopes getting back to a title shot, but the door seems like a gust of wind away from closing.
Lee: Back to being in fun fights that leave us with a good taste in our mouths.
It sucks that there was so much negativity surrounding Lopes’ second title opportunity, as if any of this is his fault. Jean Silva was the perfect matchup for him after the first Volkanovski fight, and it was supposed to put him on the path back to testing other contenders, not into an undercooked rematch. This is a guy fans love to cheer for, and the UFC ended up damaging his brand with its thoughtless booking.
He can be used as a compelling test for up-and-coming fighters or a willing dance partner for ranked opposition just looking to scrap, and who knows, maybe down the road (way down the road) he fights for a championship again.
Meshew: Mike is right, I think this loss has basically no negative effect on Lopes, at least his future prospects. It definitely made me think less of him as a fighter because he tried the same failing game plan as the first time around, but that doesn’t matter to the UFC, and they’re the only ones who do matter.
This would be a bad loss for Lopes if Volkanovski were 26, but that’s not what’s happening here; Volkanovski is not long for this division. Either he loses the title in his next fight, or he successfully defends this belt one more time, and then he’s moving up to 155 pounds. By 2027, the featherweight belt will be up for grabs again, and the UFC still loves Lopes, so I bet he’s fighting for the title by next spring.
4. Who was the biggest winner at UFC 325?
Heck: The biggest winners are the UFC production team led by fellow New Englandah Zach Candito, and Paramount+.
The UFC 324 broadcast seemed to catch some flak due to the pacing issues, the overabundance of Travis Barker, and the lack of fighter walkouts. Candito promised changes between 324 and 325, and undersold and overdelivered, because the pacing was the best it’s been in quite some time. And guess what? YOU GOT YOUR WALKOUTS, TOO!
Outside of some streaming glitches during the early part of the prelims, it was a damn good night for the prod crew. Expect more improvements as we go along, but this was a tremendous sophomore effort.
Lee: The Benoit Saint Denis redemption rolls on.
I don’t think Saint Denis’ stock dropped too much when he suffered losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano, but it definitely felt like a reality check in the moment. It was fair to assume that his berserker style, while undeniably entertaining, might have its limitations.
And you know what? It still might, but that’s two straight wins now over top 10 mainstays and all signs point to Saint Denis having genuinely rounded out his game while still employing his trademark “seek and destroy” style. This time last year, Saint Denis was in danger of exiting the rankings; now, he could be matched up with Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Paddy Pimblett, or Arman Tsarukyan, and no one would question it.
Meshew: Mauricio Ruffy, for sure.
It’s hard to overstate how much shine fell off Ruffy after losing to Benoit Saint Denis last fall. Ruffy was on a rocket ship to the top and then got demolished in embarrassing fashion. A loss like that can derail a young career in a hurry, but Ruffy somehow got another shot at moving rapidly up the rankings.
Had he lost to Rafael Fiziev? His career might be in total free fall, and his next fight would almost certainly be against an unranked up-and-comer. But instead, Ruffy authored a redemptive performance over a Top 10 opponent, AND Saint Denis kept rolling, making his lone UFC loss look even better.
5. Who was the biggest loser at UFC 325?
Heck: The correct answer is Diego Lopes, but I already discussed what the loss means for him. My answer defaults to Rafael Fiziev.
Shoutout to Fiziev, by the way. In terms of buzz, UFC 325 felt about as low on the list as I can remember in regards to people caring about a card heading in. The press conferences, media days, interviews, nothing was working to get people outside of the hardcore fan base excited — and even the devoted fight-watchers were trying to find ways to put this event over — trust me, I tried to find positives, too.
Then, a shooting star appeared in the form of Fiziev, who had this incredible moment with Mauricio Ruffy at the final faceoff, delivering the goods in a moment that stole the entire fight week.
And then that damn bell had to ring.
Fiziev started strong and aggressive, and then that aggression turned to hesitation, and he paid the piper in a big way. Ruffy gets the biggest win and moment of his career with a sensational knockout and finish. And for Fiziev, he firmly remains established in the boardroom of “super fun lightweight,” but any hopes on a UFC lightweight world title belt being paraded in Baku seemed to have vanished for good.
Lee: Aaron Tau, though technically, he didn’t even make it to UFC 325.
After a loss on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024, the well-regarded Tau fought his way back to another opportunity for a contract after scoring a pair of wins on Road to UFC to set up a flyweight tournament final fight with Namsrai Batbayar that was to open Saturday’s card. However, Tau made an absolute meal of his weigh-in, first making suspicious use of the box curtain to register at 122.5 pounds (far below the limit for someone who had to strip down) and then actually coming in at 129 pounds (three over the limit) when immediately asked to step to the scale again. Shortly after, his fight was cancelled.
John Gooden announced on the UFC 325 broadcast that Tau vs. Batbayar is to be rescheduled for a later date, but the damage is done. Even if he makes it to the UFC, Tau will forever be known as the cheat who didn’t know how to game the weigh-in system properly.
Meshew: Tai Tuivasa. “Bam Bam” is a popular fighter, and once upon a time, he had a moment where it looked like he might fight for a belt. Those days are long gone now, and Tuivasa probably is, too.
Bam Bam entered Saturday on a five-fight losing streak, having taken a year off to get right. And while he did look a little bit better, Tuivasa still lost in a real heavyweighty heavyweight slog of a fight against Tallison Teixeira — the same Teixeira who was recently KOed by washed Derrick Lewis. I don’t know of any fighter who ever came back to have success after a six-fight losing streak, especially when you’re losing fights like that.
Bam Bam may well be heading to BKFC or Dirty Boxing soon.
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