Alexander Volkanovski faces quite the conundrum after UFC 333 last weekend.‘The Great’ flattened the previously undefeated Movsar Evloev in the main event of the Abu Dhabi card to defend his featherweight title and will likely have the rare freedom to choose his next move.Volkanovski was too good for Evloev in all areas and stopped him with some heavy blows to the head in round twoAFPThe champion is now in the unique position of essentially being able to pick what he wants for his next UFC fight – if there is oneAFPThrough his victory, Volkanovski broke Jose Aldo‘s eight-fight record for the most featherweight title wins in UFC history, cementing his legacy as one of, if not the greatest 145lbs fighter ever.The 38-year-old, who has faced retirement questions for years, admitted after winning that he’ll ‘probably keep going,’ having not sustained much damage during the fight.So this has led optimistic MMA fans to start speculating about what could be next for the two-time featherweight king.Here, talkSPORT.com suggests three realistic opponents for Volkanovski’s next outing.Jean SilvaNo.5-ranked featherweightFan-favourite Silva has lost just one of his eight UFC fights and has been calling for a title shot the entire yearGettyWith Evloev out of the picture for now and Diego Lopes moving up to challenge Charles Oliveira at lightweight, Jean Silva stands out among active ranked featherweights as a difficult problem for Volkanovski to solve.Few in the division, too, have the fanbase Silva has generated since emerging through Dana White‘s Contender Series and making his UFC debut just two years ago.The Brazilian has since won seven of eight UFC fights, losing to Lopes in September 2025, and is currently placed in the top five at featherweight.Last time out, Silva submitted Jose Delgado at Noche UFC, having claimed a razor-thin decision over fellow title contender Arnold Allen at the start of this year.Although Allen has told talkSPORT.com Silva is crazy to be calling for a title shot at this point in his career, ‘Lord’ has been on a generational run this year on a campaign trail to earn his first UFC title shot.After all, the UFC is now at a point, more than ever, where the rankings essentially mean nothing, and if you can fill seats, which Silva does, you’re in with a great shot.Justin GaethjeUFC lightweight championGaethje became lightweight champion at the UFC White House event in June and Volkanovski has said he would retire if offered a fight against the AmericanGettyUFC CEO White has made it very clear he will honour whatever wish Volkanovski wants for his next fight.This followed comments from Volkanovski during UFC 333’s fight week, as the Australian teased a champion-vs-champion, dual-retirement, mega-fight against lightweight king, Justin Gaethje.Like Volkanovski, Gaethje is also handling retirement talk, and conversation has intensified ever since the American’s historic upset win over Ilia Topuria on the South Lawn of the White House in June.Volkanovski unsuccessfully challenged Islam Makhachev for the 155lbs title in 2023, coming ever so close to defeating the Russian at UFC 284 before ultimately being knocked out in their rematch.However, the consensus is Volkanovski deserves another crack at the lightweight throne.“That’s something I would retire for,” Volkanovski said of the Gaethje super-fight after his win on Saturday.“If [the UFC] wanted to give me that opportunity, I would retire. Win or lose, retire — then [the title] is vacant, so I’m not holding up the division.”Given the wars Gaethje is known for throughout his UFC career, Volkanovski would probably have no choice but to lay down his gloves once and for all anyway if he fought ‘The Highlight.’Aljamain Sterling or Kevin VallejosNo.4 and No.10-ranked featherweightsArgentine prospect Vallejos has the chance to score a career-best win when he faces former champion Sterling at UFC Qatar next monthGettyAljamain Sterling’s featherweight clash with Kevin Vallejos will have huge ramifications on the division, whatever the outcome.The pair feature as the co-main event of UFC Qatar on November 21, before Jiri Prochazka faces Navajo Stirling in a light heavyweight headliner. If former bantamweight champion Sterling defeats up-and-coming knockout artist Vallejos, ‘Funk Master’ will be in a great position to call for a title shot next.Since 2018, Sterling has lost only to Sean O’Malley and Evloev in 14 UFC fights, having defeated top-ranked contenders Brian Ortega and Youssef Zalal in his last two fights.However, a statement from Vallejos and all of a sudden the 24-year-old from Argentina will surge into the top four at 145lbs and be within touching distance of a championship bout.Vallejos has scored back-to-back Performance of the Night-winning KOs in his last two fights.And Josh Hokit, who fights Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title at UFC 334, has shown that momentum can play a massive factor in getting a quick shot at gold.Honourable mention: Lerone MurphyNo.3-ranked featherweightMurphy dropped a very close majority decision to Evloev in what was his first career defeat seven months agoGettyLerone Murphy failed to land a title shot against Volkanovski after his wild spinning elbow KO of Aaron Pico at UFC 319 last year.Instead, ‘The Miracle’ was matched up against Evloev at UFC London in March, losing a controversial majority decision after five rounds in the main event.Given Evloev marked the only defeat of Murphy’s entire 19-fight MMA career, the Englishman is still right up there in terms of his worthiness to fight for a UFC title.However, it looks like Murphy will give Pico, who knocked out Losene Keita at UFC 333, his rematch next and hope to cement his status as a 145lbs title contender.talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankingstalkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out.