5 Fights We Need to See After UFC 294

UFC 294 went down on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, and it was full of excitement from top to bottom.

The card was headlined by a short-notice rematch between lightweight champ Islam Makhachev and featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. Makhachev, who was defending his belt, defeated Volkanovski by decision in February, and did so again in the rematch, this time with a stunning, first-round head kick.

The co-main event occurred at middleweight, where rising contender Khamzat Chimaev locked horns with welterweight great Kamaru Usman. Usman, who was debuting at middleweight after two losses to Leon Edwards at welterweight, put up a good fight but ultimately lost a majority decision.

The middle bout of the main card saw top-10 light heavyweight contenders Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker collide, with a title shot in reach for the winner. Regrettably, the fight ended as a no contest after Ankalaev landed an illegal knee in the first round, and the doctor ruled Walker out of the fight.

Those top three fights alone opened the door to some huge matchups in some of the UFC's most popular divisions. Keep scrolling for the fights we're hoping will be made when everyone is healed up.

Islam Makhachev was initially supposed to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 294, and he only shifted his focus to Volkanovski when his original opponent was ruled out of the fight with a cut.

Now that Makhachev has settled his rivalry with Volkanovski, he should turn his attention back to the Brazilian.

The world-class lightweights have met once before, with Makhachev submitting Oliveira to win the title last year. However, Oliveira was a dominant champion who arguably deserved an immediate rematch and has since reasserted himself as the top contender with a quick TKO win over Beneil Dariush.

Of course, there's an argument to be made that Justin Gaethje deserves the next crack at Makhachev, as he hasn't fought the Russian yet, but Oliveira beat him quite recently. He deserves the chance first, so let's get back to the original plan.

Alexander Volkanovski's short-notice rematch with Islam Makhachev couldn't have gone much worse for him. While their first fight was razor close, he barely had a chance to get started the second time around.

The good news for the Australian is that he remains the UFC featherweight champion and has a deserving contender waiting for a title shot: Ilia Topuria.

Topuria is unbeaten at 14-0. That perfect record includes recent wins over Ryan Hall, Bryce Mitchell, and most recently, former interim title challenger Josh Emmett.

He is waiting for his opportunity to challenge Volkanovski for the title, and if the featherweight champ's UFC 294 post-fight interview was any indication, he's ready to grant the top contender that opportunity. He said he's ready to go in January. That may be a little soon given the nature of his loss to Makhachev, but this is the fight to make when both featherweights are ready.

Ahead of Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman's UFC 294 fight, the promotion's CEO Dana White revealed that the winner will be granted a crack at new middleweight champion Sean Strickland.

If the promotion's official rankings are supposed to be taken seriously, the next title shot should go to South Africa's Dricus Du Plessis—presuming former champ Israel Adesanya is intent to take some time off as he says. He has simply done far more than Chimaev or Usman, most notably beating former champ Robert Whittaker.

However, Du Plessis seems to have fallen out of favor with the UFC, and there's little chance the promotion breaks from its plan to give Chimaev—fast becoming one of the sport's biggest stars—the next title shot.

Thankfully, Strickland vs. Chimaev is a great matchup, and after watching Chimaev struggle a bit with Usman at UFC 294, there's plenty of reason to believe the champion will be the man to finally ruin the Chechen's undefeated record.

Kamaru Usman's short-notice middleweight debut didn't go the way he planned, but there's no reason to believe he can't make some noise in the division if that's where he intends to stay. We're talking about one of the greatest fighters of all time, after all, and at 36, he probably has a couple of good years left in him.

Our pick for his next opponent is former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker.

Whittaker, who is also a former welterweight, is considered one of the greatest fighters in middleweight history, but he is currently riding a shocking loss to Dricus Du Plessis. He'll soon be looking for the opportunity to put that loss behind him, while Usman will no doubt be keen to score his first win in the division.

Whittaker vs. Usman would be a huge fight, even if both are beginning to slow down a bit. They're both greats in their respective divisions, they're both Ultimate Fighter winners, and they're both totally capable of beating the other.

Throw it on a pay-per-view main card when Usman is healed up.

Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker's UFC 294 light heavyweight fight ended in disaster after the former landed an illegal knee early in the first round. The foul was severe enough that Walker was ruled out of the fight by the cage-side physician, which meant the fight was ruled a no contest.

At the time the action concluded, Ankalaev seemed like he was on his way to a win, but it was still very early in the fight, and Walker is one of the most unpredictable finishers in the UFC, so a win for the Russian was far from a foregone conclusion.

Given the inconclusive end to their fight, and the fact that both men are behind the likes of Jiri Prochazka, Alex Pereira, and Jamahal Hill in the race to the title, it makes sense for them to run it back in pursuit of a more decisive outcome.

They nearly came to blows after their UFC 294 was stopped and had to be kept apart by a swarm of security—and UFC CEO Dana White—so there's little doubt they'd both be willing to run it back.