Alexander Volkanovski came away from UFC 325 as arguably the biggest winner of the night.
In the first title defense of his second reign, a rematch with Diego Lopes, the Australian featherweight rarely looked to be in any trouble. He deftly switched stances, was rarely there to be hit, and was a step ahead the Brazilian from bell to bell, save for a single flash knockdown in the lone round anyone scored for Lopes.
At 37, Volkanovski is long in the tooth for the lighter weight classes, where athletes tend to fall off a cliff after age 35. He’s proven to be the outlier, however, and now has a world of options ahead of him: Movsar Evloev, Lerone Murphy, Jean Silva, or even jumping up and chasing Ilia Topuria at lightweight.
He also has an extra $100,000 following UFC 325. So too does Diego Lopes, as the pair were awarded Fight of the Night at the event. For Volkanovski, that marks his fifth Fight of the Night bonus throughout his UFC tenure.
Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 325 went to Mauricio Ruffy and Quillan Salkilld. Ruffy, who had been struggling against Rafael Fiziev early, put away the dangerous striker in the second round, dropping him then swarming.
Australia’s Salkilld submitted countryman Jamie Mullarkey with a neck crank to open Saturday’s main card.
