Alexander Volkanovski left UFC 325 as perhaps the biggest winner of the night.
In the first title defense of his second reign, a rematch with Diego Lopes, the Australian featherweight rarely seemed to get into trouble. He deftly switched stances, was rarely there to get hit and was a step ahead of the Brazilian from bell to bell, save for the odd flash knockdown in the only round anyone scored for Lopes.
At 37, Volkanovski has long sought the lighter weight classes, where athletes fall off a cliff after age 35. However, he has proven to be the outlier and now has a world of options in front of him: Movsar Evloev, Lerone Murphy, Jean Silva, or even jump up and chase Ilia Topuria at lightweight.
He also has an extra $100,000 after UFC 325. That also applies to Diego Lopes, as the pair received Fight of the Night at the event. For Volkanovski, this is his fifth Fight of the Night bonus during his UFC tenure.
Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 325 went to Mauricio Ruffy and Quillan Salkilld. Ruffy, who was wrestling Rafael Fiziev early, put the dangerous striker away in the second round, dropped him and swarmed.
Australian Salkilld submitted compatriot Jamie Mullarkey with a neck crank to open Saturday’s main card.
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