The door to the Ilia Topuria was open, and a familiar face climbed back to the top of the feathered chart.
In the main event of UFC 314, former champion Alexander Volkanovsky became two-time champion Alexander Volkanovsky in a vintage five-round performance against the crude Diego Lopez. Naturally, Volkanovski will regain the top spot in MMA’s combat global rankings, but Topuria has been completely removed and revealed that she intends to compete at 155 pounds.
It’s a familiar sight to fans of the battle, as Volkanovski had been in that number one for over four years before abdicated to Topuria at UFC 314. He now finds he has plenty of opportunities to add fresh challenger Rittany waiting in the wings, including undefeated Movsar Evloev and paired candidates who have won a Par pair.
Jansilva also made a splash at UFC 314, improving the UFC record to 5-0 with a stunning victory over Bryce Mitchell. The energetic fighting nerd representative ruled Mitchell on his feet before finishing him with a smooth ninja choke in the second round. It’s controversial that no fighter has left Miami with more talk than Silva after that stunning performance.
And then there’s Lerown Murphy. Lerown Murphy quietly beat Josh Emmett with the UFC Vegas 105 headliner to secure a top 10 spot for the first time. Murphy may not offer bonus-winning performances every time, but he is undefeated in his professional career and has won eight straight UFC battles since going to a draw on his debut. It’s not from the realm of the possibility that Murphy will receive a championship call sooner than later, if other challengers become available.
No matter who next person, Volkanovski has returned to the driver’s seat. This seems unlikely after losing to Topuria 14 months ago. His rediscovery is one of the pleasant stories of 2025, allowing him to be sure he wants to return to his cage and prove that the suspect is wrong again.
Check out the updated 145 pound rankings for MMA Fighting below.
Recent results of ranked fighter jets (previous rankings are shown): No. 2 Alexander Volkanovski def. No. 5 Diego Lopes, No. 8Yair Rodriguez def. No. 9 Patricio Pitbull, No. 13Lerone Murphy Def. No. 10 Josh Emmett
Upcoming matches featuring ranked fighters: Vs to 14 Gia David Viewer (UFC Kansas City, April 26th)
Fighters are also receiving votes (number of votes shown): Dan Ige (3), Kleber Koike (2), Calvin Kattar (1)
Opinion survey
Who should Alexander Volkanovsky fight next?
78%
Movsar Evloev
(306 votes)
5%
Yair Rodriguez
(22 votes)
Total of 388 votes
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