UFC 325 takeaways: We didn't need Volkanovski-Lopes 2

Alexander Volkanovski defended the UFC featherweight title in his rematch with Diego Lopes, earning a unanimous decision victory in the UFC 325 main event Saturday night in Sydney.

In the co-headliner, Benoit Saint Denis continued to climb the lightweight rankings with a second-round TKO of Dan Hooker.

Here are five takeaways from the event.

Volkanovski-Lopes 2 was unnecessary

We never needed Volkanovski and Lopes to run it back - and the outcome of Saturday's rematch proved it. Nine months after Volkanovski beat Lopes in decisive fashion to reclaim the featherweight title, he outclassed him again.

The UFC faced a lot of criticism for giving Lopes another crack at Volkanovski, especially with Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy waiting for their first title shots. In this case, the critics were right. Not a whole lot changed from the first fight. Volkanovski was the smarter and more technical fighter in the stand-up department; Lopes didn't pull the trigger enough, nor did he cut off the cage. Their first meeting was more entertaining.

After Volkanovski got his hand raised, I couldn't help but wonder what the point of this was. A second win over Lopes doesn't do much for Volkanovski's resume. And Lopes, one of the featherweight division's rising stars, is now 0-2 in championship fights and officially out of the title mix - at least for the foreseeable future.

The UFC matchmakers get a lot of things right, but they missed the mark with Volkanovski-Lopes 2.

What's next for Volkanovski?

At 37, Volkanovski may not be in his prime anymore, but he is still clearly the best featherweight in the world with Ilia Topuria competing at lightweight. However, it's time to see him tested against fresh opposition.

Ahead of UFC 325, Volkanovski didn't shy away from the fact he believed Evloev and Murphy were both more deserving of a title shot than Lopes. It's not Volkanovski's fault - or Lopes' for that matter - that the promotion went in a different direction. But one of those two guys has to be next in line.

Saint Denis, Ruffy cement themselves as lightweight contenders

The lightweight division is in good hands, as Saint Denis extended his winning streak to four against Hooker and Mauricio Ruffy earned the biggest victory of his career versus Rafael Fiziev.

Saint Denis used his grappling to wear down Hooker and then pummeled him on the ground with elbows and punches, scoring a TKO finish at the 4:45 mark of the second round. Ruffy floored Fiziev with a massive right hand and then got the job done with ground-and-pound, winning at the 4:30 mark of the second frame.

While Saint Denis and Ruffy still have more work to do before challenging for the title, it's safe to say that the Frenchman and Brazilian are officially among the division's elite.

Bye-bye, 'Bam Bam'

I get that Tai Tuivasa is a fan favorite, but let's be honest: Riding a six-fight losing streak, "Bam Bam" has no business being on the UFC roster anymore.

His unanimous decision loss to Tallison Teixeira on Saturday - his first fight since August 2024 - was entertaining at times but embarrassing at others, and it said a lot about the state of the heavyweight division. By the end of the fight, Teixeira and Tuivasa were both so exhausted that all they could do was sit down next to each other on the canvas.

Tuivasa has delivered many memorable moments both in the Octagon and outside of it (like drinking beer from shoes), but it's time for the promotion to let him loose.

Salkilld is a prospect to watch

Australia's Quillan Salkilld was one of the standout performers at UFC 325.

The 26-year-old lightweight tapped out veteran Jamie Mullarkey with a rear-naked choke in the first round. He improved to 4-0 in the promotion, with three of those wins ending within the first five minutes.

In his most recent fight before Saturday, Salkilld delivered one of the biggest highlights of 2025, a head-kick knockout of Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 321. Clearly, Salkilld can do it all: knock you out, submit you, or beat you on the scorecards. And at his age, he has a lot of time to improve his game. Keep an eye on him, because he could very well be a problem in the 155-pound division sooner than later.