5 Fights We Need to See After UFC 314

The UFC was back in Miami on Saturday night, and as is so often the case when the leading MMA promotion touches down in Florida, magical things happened.

In the main event, Australian legend Alexander Volkanovski became a two-time champion, defeating surging contender Diego Lopes by decision to reclaim the belt he once held in a vice-grip for years.

Before that happened, England's Paddy Pimblett transformed into a legitimate lightweight title contender, thrashing former Bellator champion Michael Chandler to a third-round TKO.

The card also featured a huge win from former interim featherweight champ Yair Rodriguez, who spoiled the debut of former Bellator star Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, as well as Jean Silva, who became a featherweight contender himself with an impressive submission win over Bryce Mitchell.

Former light heavyweight title contender Dominick Reyes also won big on the card, knocking out Nikita Krylov to extend his win streak to three.

It was a career-changing night for every winner on the main card. Here are the fights we'd like to see made when the dust has settled.

Alexander Volkanovski is once again the UFC featherweight champion.

The Aussie claimed the vacant title with an impressive decision win over the stone-fisted Diego Lopes in Saturday's main event, and is now the first two-time champ in the division's history.

From here, the big question is who's next.

Our pick is Russian contender Movsar Evloev.

Evloev seems to have fallen out of favor with the UFC. He was barely mentioned on Saturday night. However, the Russian is now a staggering 19-0 as a pro, with a win over former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling behind him. He deserves the opportunity, and Volkanovski has never been the type to turn down fights.

It may not be a blockbuster, but it's the fight to make. Book it.

Diego Lopes' first bid at a UFC title didn't go the way he planned, as he was defeated by featherweight legend Alexander Volkanovski over five rounds. However, the Mexico-based Brazilian represented himself well, stinging his opponent multiple times on the feet, and even dropping him in round two. After his valiant performance, he should only need another win or two to put himself back in the title conversation.

We'd like to see him attempt to get back on track against Yair Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was back in action on the UFC 314 main card, where he spoiled the debut of former Bellator lightweight and featherweight champ Patricio "Pitbull" Freire with a unanimous decision win.

After the win, the Mexican star insinuated that the UFC promised him a shot at the Volkanovski-Lopes winner, but as we've covered, that opportunity needs to go to Evloev.

Given that, it only makes sense to book Rodriguez against Lopes in an all-Mexico showdown. It's a fantastic scrap on paper, and as luck would have it, the two have a heated rivalry that is begging to be settled.

At this point, there's no denying Paddy Pimblett. After a stunning TKO win over Michael Chandler in the UFC 314 co-main event, the former Cage Warriors champion has proven himself a legitimate contender in the UFC lightweight division.

After his win, Pimblett expressed interest in fights with legends like Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Charles Oliveira. While he would seemingly leap at the chance to fight any of those men, his preference was clearly for a fight with the former champ Oliveira.

We say give him what he wants.

Oliveira is also riding a win over Chandler — a decision victory late last year. The Brazilian is one of the top contenders for a crack at lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, but having lost to the Russian already, will most likely be passed up for former featherweight champ Ilia Topuria, who is headed up to lightweight.

If that's how things shake out, Oliveira will need another opponent, and a red-hot contender like Pimblett seems like just the ticket.

Jean Silva called for a fight with Bryce Mitchell, and at UFC 314, he got what he asked for.

Heading into the fight, many fans believed the Brazilian featherweight had bitten off more than he could chew. However, that was not the case. He not only dominated Mitchell on the feet, but ultimately submitted the grappling specialist, choking him completely unconscious.

The win over Mitchell will send Silva crashing into the featherweight top-15, where fights with the division's best fighters await.

Our pick for his next opponent is Josh Emmett.

Emmett, a former interim title challenger, is fresh off a decision loss to another rising featherweight contender in Lerone Murphy. He's in dire need of a win, but remains one of the toughest fighters in the division, as he proved with his victory over Mitchell a few years back — a devastating KO.

Matching him up with Silva seems like a no-brainer. They're two of the hardest punchers at 145 pounds, and the odds of a knockout seem very high.

It's safe to say Dominick Reyes is back.

Reyes famously pushed Jon Jones to the limit in 2020, arguably beating the light heavyweight in an unforgettable five-round fight. Unfortunately, the decision didn't go his way, and he went on to lose consecutive fights to Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka and Ryan Spann thereafter — all by knockout.

He's finally corrected his course.

After rebounding with a KO win over Dustin Jacoby and a lopsided stoppage of Anthony Smith, Reyes scored one of the biggest wins of his career at UFC 314, knocking out Nikita Krylov in round one. It was an impressive win under any circumstances, but all the more so because Krylov has an iron chin, having not been knocked out since a heavyweight fight with Soa Palelei in 2013.

Reyes will still probably need one more win to earn another crack at the light heavyweight title, but in a twist nobody could have predicted after his recent losses, he's almost there.

We'd like to see him take another step in that direction against Aleksandar Rakic.

Rakic has been a staple of the top-10 for years, but the Austrian is riding losses to Blachowicz, Prochazka and most recently, Magomed Ankalaev. He needs to get back on track in his next fight. Book him vs. Reyes to see who belongs at the top of the light heavyweight division.