Matches to Make After UFC 284

UFC 284 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, featured 2023's biggest fight thus far: Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski moved up to challenge lightweight king Islam Makhachev.

Volkanovski entered the champ vs. champ showdown having lost only once in his career, all the way back in 2013 in his fourth pro fight. Since then, had reeled off 22 straight victories, including a perfect 12-0 in the UFC with four title defenses since taking the crown from Max Holloway in late 2019. Only the rematch against Holloway, a split decision, was close. Many consider Volkanovski the best pound-for-pound fighter in all of mixed martial arts.

Makhachev, for his part, has also lost only once, back in 2015 in his second UFC fight. He held a fantastic 12-1 record and was making his very first title defense since dominating and submitting Charles Oliveira for the lightweight crown late last year. Due in large part to his size, Makhachev was a heavy favorite in the main event, despite Volkanovski's pound-for-pound status.

It was a highly technical and razor-close affair through all five rounds. Makhachev was competitive on the feet and his takedowns made the difference in many stanzas. Still, Volkanovski resisted both submissions and heavy damage to close the fight strong. However, the lightweight ruler survived and retained his crown via unanimous decision.

In the co-main, Mexican dynamo Yair Rodriguez faced Josh Emmett for the interim featherweight crown due to Volkanovski moving up. Rodriguez had only fought twice in the past three years, going 1-1. He lost a close battle against Holloway and then won against two-time challenger Brian Ortega after Ortega suffered a bad shoulder injury at the end of the first round. Rodriguez has elite kickboxing and good boxing, but is clearly lacking in the grappling department, an area which multiple opponents have exploited. Josh Emmett, on the other hand, had won 5 in a row since a catastrophic knockout loss against Jeremy Stephens that required facial reconstructive surgery. The most recent victory was a split decision over Calvin Kattar that most had Kattar winning. With Emmett, the concern was about his age, as he turns 38 in less than a month, which is seemingly ancient for 145 pounds.

Related » UFC 284 Round-by-Round Scoring

Emmett may have won the first round by taking Rodriguez down and ground-and-pounding him. However, in the second round, Rodriguez brutalized Emmett with body kicks and landed punches at will. An over-eager jumping knee allowed Emmett to get a late takedown, but then Rodriguez locked in a triangle choke, his first submission victory since 2014, prior to his UFC debut.

Elsewhere, Perth's own Jack Della Maddalena electrified the home crowd with his most impressive victory yet, a fantastic club-and-sub of tough veteran Randy Brown. Maddalena is now 4-0 in the UFC and all four triumphs have been first-round stoppages.

With those results in mind, here are several intriguing matchups that suggest themselves;

Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier

In terms of starpower, this is the biggest matchup for the lightweight throne that still makes sense rankings-wise. Poirier is currently No. 2 after his impressive third-round submission of Michael Chandler, and No. 1 is Charles Oliveira, who Makhachev recently dominated. Is the third time the charm for Poirier, who was submitted in Round 3 by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Oliveira in his previous two title attempts? Is Makhachev's vulnerability against Volkanovski a sign that he is being figured out, or merely the efforts of an all-time great champion? This would likely make a great pay-per-view main event and have an excellent chance of being a thrilling showdown with a decisive finish.

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez

The champion versus the interim champ is a natural booking, and it's also a fresh opponent for Volkanovski at featherweight. And while the Australian will be a heavy favorite due to his superior grappling, Rodriguez has decisively defeated far better grapplers twice in a row now, first against Ortega and now Emmett, showing improved defense off his back. It will be a worthy match and an entertaining affair between two fighters who are highly explosive but also possess fantastic cardio for all five rounds, an exceptionally rare combination.

Jack Della Maddalena vs. Neil Magny

Exactly how good is Maddalena? Certainly enough to decimate a very solid fighter in Brown, who can strike as well as grapple. But is it enough to overcome an even tougher veteran, especially in the grappling, like 13th ranked Magny? This fight would be a significant test for Maddalena and answer many questions, while not harming him too much in case he loses, as Magny is a still a good name and Maddalena is only 26. Magny's style is not the most thrilling, but this could still be an entertaining fight if Maddalena manages to get off the same dynamic strikes he has so far in his UFC career.