With a rich fight card and plenty of high stakes at stake, UFC 321 promised a lot at the Etihad Arena, but on a night that ended in anti-climactic fashion, who came out on top of the main card fights with the highest stock?
UFC 321 Power Rankings
RDX Sports Editor-in-Chief and veteran MMA writer Simon Head presents his power rankings for UFC 321, with a look at the winners of the main card.
1. Mackenzie Dern
From the moment Dern arrived in the UFC, expectations were sky-high. The former ADCC and IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu World Champion has always garnered a lot of attention, but over the past seven years we’ve watched Dern evolve as a mixed martial artist as he grows from a grappling phenom to an all-around MMA fighter.
On Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, that evolution led her to the undisputed UFC women’s strawweight title, showcasing a more complete MMA skill set and outperforming the bout, narrowly over Virna Jandilova in the co-main event after a five-round contest.
With all of his opponents focused on avoiding grappling with Dern, the Brazilian had to work hard to improve his striking. And Dern’s efforts wearing boxing gloves in the gym under the watchful eye of respected coach Jason Parrillo, who pushed Michael Bisping to the undisputed middleweight title at UFC 199, led to improved striking performance with 4-ounce gloves on fight night, allowing him to finish the fight as a serious challenger at 115 pounds.
And with Weili Zhang leaving the division to challenge Valentina Shevchenko’s undisputed UFC women’s flyweight title at UFC 322, Dern has the chance to fight for the newly vacant title against Jandilova, who she lost on the scorecards at 2020’s UFC 256.
Both fighters had improved significantly heading into their rematch, but in the end, it was Dern’s improved striking that made the difference, and he defeated Jandiroba for a unanimous decision victory and an emotional title win.
2. Azamat Murzakanov
Murzakhanov may not have been the biggest name on the UFC 321 fight card, but those close to the fight know that the undefeated Russian light heavyweight contender is one of the most interesting storylines to follow in the UFC’s 205-pound division.
After blowing his way to a UFC contract at Dana White’s Contender Series, Murzakhanov has pretty much blown away his opponents in the Octagon so far. Only experienced kickboxing practitioner Dustin Jacoby has achieved this distance in ‘The Professional’, finishing off Tafon Nchukwe, Devin Clark, Alonzo Menifield and Blendson Ribeiro en route to his main card opener against Austrian contender Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 321.
Facing a veteran striker with a wealth of top-level experience in the UFC, Murzakhanov faced the biggest challenge of his UFC career to date, but he overcame the challenge with flying colors, dropping Rakic with a ramrod jab and finishing him off with a first-round TKO, improving his record to 16-0.
Considering the overall development of the fight night, Murzakhanov was extremely unlucky not to receive a post-fight bonus for his performance. But that missing paycheck will soon be forgotten if the UFC grants his post-fight request to fight the No. 1 contender next.
3. Umar Nurmagomedov
Nurmagomedov is so good that it seems crazy to think he needed a big performance here to re-establish his credentials as a championship favorite. But that story has been front and center for him as he tries to bounce back from losing to Merab Dvalishvili in a title fight at UFC 311 in January.
If there were any question marks, Nurmagomedov quickly erased them with another strong performance, defeating Mario Bautista over three rounds. Bautista entered the bout on an impressive eight-fight winning streak, but that streak ended when Nurmagomedov took the American’s legs off him during the bout and leaned heavily into wrestling to get on the defensive for long stretches.
There was a terrifying moment when he fell to his knees at the perfect moment and his body seemed to tremble. However, the threat of a takedown seemed to prevent Bautista from closing in on the pursuit, and the Russian quickly recovered.
That moment aside, Nurmagomedov has re-entered the fight for the title at 135 pounds, looking a cut above one of the trickiest contenders in the bantamweight division. Former champion Petr Yan is next scheduled to challenge Dvalishvili for the title, and Nurmagomedov is sure to be a very interested audience. He might be next.
4. Alexander Volkov
The main card’s heavyweight bout between Volkov and Jaylton Almeida was billed as a de facto title elimination fight, but after a nearly incidentless 15-minute bout, it’s hard to see either fighter working too hard for a title shot.
Volkov won by split decision, as his limited but successful striking outweighed Almeida’s prolonged but largely ineffective positional control. Almeida didn’t seem willing to stand up or open up his position to chase a submission or TKO finish on the ground.
In the end, it was a lesson for fighters that a “just shut up and pray” approach no longer guarantees victory at the sport’s highest level. The referees want to see the effectiveness of their players’ work, and Volkov was slightly more effective in games where attacking power was more important.
Technically, he should be next in line to win the title. However, his performance did little to raise his stock, plus an unfortunate turn of events in the main event title fight, so perhaps “Drago” will be called upon to fight and win again before taking home the gold in 2026.
T5. Tom Aspinall and Cyril Gane
The main event between Aspinall and Gane was shaping up to be a cracker of a heavyweight title fight. Both men were making shots, with Gane already bleeding the newly crowned undisputed champion’s nose. However, near the end of the opening game, disaster struck.
Gane’s attempted palm-off resulted in Aspinall being poked in the eyes with his index and middle fingers, causing the Englishman to stumble back in pain. Although the foul was accidental, the game was stopped and a no-contest was declared, resulting in the end of the game.
This meant Aspinall’s chances of establishing himself at the top of the heavyweight division stopped short, while Gane’s encouraging start was all wasted as his fingers cost him the chance to build on his early strong performance.
As a result, both fighters will have to return to Europe to rest, recover and prepare for the rematch, with UFC President and CEO Dana White stating his intention to rebook the fight as soon as possible.
When they meet again, we should expect a clean fight and final result.