Islam Makhachev, Alexander Volkanovski's Next Best Fights After UFC 294 Results

Islam Makhachev held on to his lightweight championship with a dynamic first-round TKO win over Alexander Volkanovski to close out UFC 294 in Saudi Arabia.

While he really had to work to beat The Great the first time around, he took care of the rematch with just one well-placed high kick.

The 31-year-old now has even more credibility after successfully defending his belt twice. His first meeting with Volkanovski ended in a close unanimous decision so a second win over "The Great" confirms his own ability.

Greater challenges lie ahead, though. As good as Volkanovski is, his resume was built at featherweight.

That's where he still reigns as champion and is likely where his next fight will be. Despite the loss he still has a belt to defend and this shouldn't do too much to hurt his stock.

Here's a look at what could be on the horizon for both champions from the main event.

Islam Makhachev has made it known that he would like to pursue a second belt. A move up to welterweight might be on the horizon.

That's become par for the course for a lot of champions. It's really easy to sell a fight against two champions and there's a certain amount of respect and greatness that comes with being a two-division champion.

But the time for Makhachev to make that move hasn't come quite yet. Volkanovski's pursuit is a great example. The featherweight champion has chased a second title but it came after he had convincingly run through multiple contenders in his division.

Makhachev hasn't done that. The reality is that his only two title defenses have come against Volkanovski who doesn't actually have signature wins as a lightweight.

At the very least, he needs to stick around and fight one more 155-pounder. Charles Oliveira made some sense. That was supposed to be the fight on Saturday until a cut forced Oliveira off the card.

However, Makhachev already beat him to win the title with a second-round submission so it's not the end of the world if they don't run it back.

Instead, a matchup with Justin Gaethje and his relentless pressure would be more fun while giving him another legitimate lightweight on the resume.

Alexander Volkanovski should be applauded for taking on Islam Makhachev twice, especially because the second attempt came on 12-days' notice.

But the lightweight pursuit should probably be put on pause for a while. Instead, it would make sense for Volkanovski to go back to what he does best: Beat up top contenders in the featherweight division.

Volkanovski essentially committed to doing as much, telling Marc Raimondi of ESPN that he hopes to fight Ilia Topuria in January. It's an awfully quick turnaround, but it's not a good idea to count Volkanovski out.

Topuria has racked up a record of 14-0 and is becoming more and more undeniable. Topuria is a diverse fighter with a knack for finishing fights. He's only gone to decision twice and has four knockouts and eight submissions to his name.

The 26-year-old looks like the future of the division. It's about time we get to see if the future is now.