UFC Featherweight Rankings: Volkanovski Rules Unchallenged

There is a reason Alexander Volkanovski moved up in weight to challenge Islam Makhachev for his lightweight championship: he’s beaten all the top contenders in his division. The featherweight champ has turned back former champion Max Holloway three times while taking out a consistent string of number-one contenders. Beyond his next opponent, Yair Rodriguez, how are the UFC featherweight rankings shaping out?

The UFC Featherweight Division in 2023

Volkanovski, Holloway, Own Division

Volkanovski has all but owned the 145-pound division since coming into the UFC. He went undefeated until winning the title from Max Holloway. The Australian has set numerous records including having the second-longest winning streak in the division and the highest significant strike differential.

With dominant showings in his last three title defenses, the UFC odds favor Volkanovski to turn back Rodriguez on UFC 290 at -450. The comeback on Rodriguez is at +350. But should Volkanovski win again, he’ll come one step closer to tying Holloway’s record of 13 straight wins. It would also tie him with legends like Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre.

Speaking of Holloway, the Hawaiian remains the top dog on the UFC featherweight rankings if we discount Rodriguez, the interim champion. Like Volkanovski, Holloway’s beaten every top contender in the division including Rodriguez.

Holloway’s success against the rest of the class is partly why it’s hard to build contenders to fight Volkanovski. Arnold Allen was supposed to be up next but Holloway snapped his winning streak earlier this year. And Brian Ortega has been injured. But who else is worth noting?

UFC Featherweight Rankings (as of June 2023)

Per UFC.com, these are the current top 10 featherweight contenders plus Volkanovski as the champion:

Volkanovski and Holloway should be the unofficial 1 and 2 in this UFC featherweight rankings. Rodriguez could be the third as his only loss here has come against Holloway (and soon to be against Volkanovski if the odds prove accurate). Ortega lost to the three ahead of him while Allen lost to Holloway.

Now, a key matchup coming up on the UFC events is Josh Emmett (5) and Ilia Topuria (9). Emmett just lost to Rodriguez for the interim title while Topuria is undefeated and is 5-0 in the UFC with four finishes. The early odds favor Topuria at -340 with Emmett at +250. If Topuria beats Emmett decisively, he could leapfrog Allen and Ortega to get the next shot.

And down at 10 is another prospect-turned-contender in Movsar Evloev. Like Topuria, he is undefeated and is one big win away from being considered a title contender.

As for the likes of Calvin Kattar (6) and Giga Chikadze (8), they will need a dominant win over another top-10 contender to re-establish themselves as they just lost their last fights (Chikadze to Kattar).

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