By Ryan Mullen

Ilia Topuria celebrates his knockout victory over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 (Image: Getty Images)

After a decisive knockout victory over the consensus greatest fighter in the history of the division, Ilia Topuria takes the featherweight belt back to Spain. Topuria has been explosive ever since his debut in 2020, winning a dominant unanimous decision in his very first fight with the promotion. Ever since then, “El Matador” has put on an excellent performance in all of his fights. Whether it be his aforementioned knockout over the champion, or his decision victory over veteran knockout artist Josh Emmet, Topuria has always delivered, boasting a 6-0 record with the promotion, and a 15-0 record overall.

The first name on anyone’s mind for Ilia’s next opponent is Yair Rodriguez. He is currently ranked third at Featherweight and is a former interim title holder. Rodriguez is an extremely well-rounded kickboxer with a very public beef with Topuria. Rodriguez is currently attached to the UFC Mexico City card coming this Saturday (February 24). Rodriguez has jokingly stated: “I’d fight him in my backyard if I could.” If he beats Brian Ortega in what is effectively a number-one contender match, he is most likely the next matchup for the new champion.

Is a bout the only way to settle the score between Topuria and Rodriguez? (Image: Getty Images)

Another name people have been mentioning is Movsar Evoloev. He is fresh off a unanimous decision over Arnold Allen, who sports one of the longest win streaks in the division. Evloev and Topuria have an unimpeded win streak in common, with Evloev having the slightly better professional record of 18 wins and no losses. It’s notable, however, that Topuria has fought higher level competition in his career than Evloev has in his.

Topuria v Evoloev could make for a captivating matchup (Image: Getty Images)

The fight that most casual viewers want to see is Max Holloway, the former featherweight champion with the longest win streak in the division and one of the longest in UFC history. Holloway is known for being a high-volume striker and boasts the highest overall significant strike record both in a fight and in his entire career. Holloway is also known for being next to impossible to knock out, going up against someone like Ilia Topuria, who is also known for his volume, is sure to make an entertaining fight. The problem with this matchup is that Holloway is a division veteran, and Topuria has stated that it was “time to move on”, and introduce some new talent in the division, since it’s only been the same people fighting in the top ranks for a while.

Max Holloway: The fans’ choice (Image: Getty Images)

Fans are also calling for a rematch with the former champion. Alexander Volkanovski is one of the most well-respected champions in the history of the sport. During his career, he was a model champion and fought all of the top competition in the division, decisively beating every challenger put in front of him for five years straight. There were also a lot of factors going against Volkanovski coming into this fight, such as the fact he was coming off of a short-notice knockout loss at UFC 294 only four months prior when losing that badly takes longer than that to recover from. With all factors combined, the fans have called for an immediate rematch for the former champion.

Could a Volkanovski vs Topuria rematch be on the cards? (Image: Getty Images)

The final match is Arnold Allen. Allen, while coming off two losses, has shown that he is an extremely well-rounded fighter, able to grapple with grapplers and strike with strikers. He has also been known to take the fights that nobody wants to take, Allen averages 45 significant strikes per fight, and seven out of his 12 UFC fights have ended with a knockout. Win or lose, Allen always puts on a show and would be a great matchup for Topuria stylistically, as both are well-rounded with genuine knockout power.

Allen facing off against Topuria would potentially be a fight for the ages with two like-for-likes going head-to-head (Image: Getty Images)

Another name people have brought up is the up-and-coming prospect Diego Lopes. The unranked prospect burst onto the UFC scene in an explosive short-notice bout with Movsar Evloev in May last year. Lopes went in as an underdog, everyone expected him to get finished, and he did lose, but he went the distance in an unbelievably competitive bout that won the fight of the night, and cemented Lopes as a real contender. If he breaks into the rankings in his upcoming bout at UFC 300, he could be inbound for a title shot sooner than most think.

What's next for Ilia Topuria?