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After his victory over Brian Ortega at UFC 266, there’s no disputing the fact that Alexander Volkanovski is the best featherweight in the UFC right now. However, despite his talents and achievements, ‘The Great’ is not unbeatable.
The UFC featherweight division is filled with dangerous fighters. While Alexander Volkanovski is a deserving champion right now, there are plenty of threats to his crown out there.
From fighters who he’s already beaten to prospects currently rising up the ladder, every 145lber in the UFC is likely to be searching for a chance to fight Alexander Volkanovski right now.
So with that in mind, here are five UFC featherweights who could be a threat to Alexander Volkanovski.
#5. Yair Rodriguez - No.3-ranked UFC featherweight
Yair Rodriguez might not have fought since October 2019, but the Mexican featherweight contender remains a major threat to any of the UFC’s 145lbers, including current UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski.
‘El Pantera’ has some of the most explosive striking in the UFC, regardless of weight class. While he’s not as technically sound as Volkanovski, he’s more than capable of taking opponents out with one shot.
And more interestingly, he’s also highly willing to throw low-percentage shots in order to find a finish, something that few other UFC featherweights are willing to do. Just witness his wild elbow knockout of Chan Sung Jung as evidence of that.
There’s an argument that a more technical, patient fighter such as Volkanovski would simply deal with Rodriguez by keeping him at the end of his strikes and never allowing him to get anything too wild off. However, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try.
And given the toughness he’s shown during his UFC career, even taking a horrendous beatdown from Frankie Edgar across two rounds in his only octagon loss to date, it’d be doubtful that Volkanovski could put him away easily.
Therefore, ‘El Pantera’ would remain a danger to ‘The Great’ for as long as their fight went on. If he can get past Max Holloway in November, he may well be given his shot at glory.
#4. Giga Chikadze – No.8-ranked UFC featherweight
While he’s only ranked at No.8 in the UFC featherweight division right now, few fighters at 145 pounds are currently riding as much momentum as Giga Chikadze. ‘Ninja’ is now 7-0 in the UFC and he’s currently on a three-fight finishing streak. And more to the point, his last two opponents, Cub Swanson and Edson Barboza, were supposed to be his toughest tests.
The Georgian certainly didn’t show that, though. Instead, he used his ruthless striking to blitz both men, taking them out in a wild rush of offense. Chikadze’s win over Barboza in particular was impressive, as he was faced with a highly dangerous striker in his own right. However, he showed the Brazilian no respect and eventually took him out in the third round.
Alexander Volkanovski has thus far shown himself to be a masterful striker and has proven himself against the likes of Brian Ortega and Max Holloway. But how would he do against the hyperactive kickboxing style of ‘Ninja’, a fighter who has arguably proven that he’s a more ruthless finisher than the champion inside the octagon?
The truth is that it’s hard to say, and that means that this prospective match would be highly intriguing, making Chikadze a genuine threat to ‘The Great’.
#3. Arnold Allen - No.6-ranked UFC featherweight
The biggest dark horse in the UFC featherweight division right now is undoubtedly Arnold Allen. ‘The Almighty’ is ranked at No.6 and yet it’s doubtful that most fans would understand quite how talented he is. That’s probably because the Englishman doesn’t have the most exciting fight style. In fact, he’s only finished two opponents in the UFC thus far.
However, it’s also worth noting that he remains unbeaten in the promotion and is now riding a ridiculous eight-fight winning streak dating back to 2015. A member of the famed Tristar Gym, the academy that produced the likes of Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald, Allen has everything it takes to be a champion in the UFC.
Like Alexander Volkanovski, he has a highly technical stand-up game built largely around a ramrod jab. But ‘The Almighty’ can also grapple with the best of them, and out of his 17 career wins, four have come by submission, including two in the UFC.
The one knock on Allen is perhaps that he hasn’t been tested against an elite-level opponent yet. His best victory to date was over Sodiq Yusuff. However, if he can pick up one more big win, a UFC title shot could be in sight, making him a genuine threat to Volkanovski’s crown.
#2. Zabit Magomedsharipov
Currently unranked in the UFC due to his lengthy stretch of inactivity, it’s still hard to deny that Zabit Magomedsharipov is easily one of the world’s most dangerous featherweights.
The Dagestani is thus far unbeaten in his UFC career, going 6-0 in the promotion and last defeating Calvin Kattar, who is currently ranked at No.5. That should give newer fans who may not understand the hype around Zabit an idea of how good he is, but he’s the kind of fighter who needs to be seen to be believed.
Magomedsharipov is more than capable of striking with excellent technique, but he’s equally adept at throwing low-percentage shots just like Yair Rodriguez. However, the Dagestani’s real strengths lie on the ground. Zabit is an expert wrestler with phenomenal takedowns and he’s also got a highly venomous submission game. He has submitted three foes in the UFC already.
Currently waiting on the shelf due to some serious health issues, it’s hoped that Magomedsharipov will be able to return to the UFC in 2022. And assuming he hasn’t lost that much during his spell away from competition, he’s definitely one of the biggest threats to UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.
#1. Max Holloway - No.1-ranked UFC featherweight
Alexander Volkanovski might’ve already defeated him twice, taking his UFC featherweight title away from him in the process, but Max Holloway is still probably the biggest threat to ‘The Great’ in the 145-pound division right now.
While ‘Blessed’ came out on the wrong end of judges’ decisions in both of his fights with Volkanovski, there’s no denying that both bouts were razor-close. In the second fight in particular, many fans thought Holloway had done just enough to deserve the nod, even if the judges saw it differently in the end.
But the Hawaiian has not rested on his laurels since. Instead, he returned to the UFC in January and put on one of the best performances of his career, picking apart Calvin Kattar with an even better boxing game than he’d shown before.
And when you add in his top-level experience, his highly dangerous grappling game and the fact that his chin is seemingly made of granite, he’d have every chance of unseating Volkanovski in a third fight. Whether Holloway can get that trilogy bout with the Australian remains to be seen, but if he can beat Yair Rodriguez in their upcoming fight, it’d be hard to deny him.
Basically, despite suffering two losses to him, Max Holloway is still the biggest threat to Alexander Volkanovski in the UFC.
