What’s next for the UFC 276 fighters?

After the conclusion of UFC 276, what will happen next for the fighters?

Sean O’Malley, 13th ranked Bantamweight (15-1 1NC)

Sean O’Malley is one of the organization’s biggest names and fan favorites. O’Malley only fights on the biggest cards of the year and sees his fair share of criticism. His criticism comes from his level of competition that he makes highlight reels from. His only “loss” came from Marlon Vera back in 2020. O’Malley denies the loss to this day saying that he injured his leg which is what gave him the upper hand.

O’Malley was set to have a big showing in UFC 276 as he was fighting his first ranked fighter in some time as he was ranked 13th and Pedro Munhoz was 9th. The fight was less than stellar as it was stopped in the second round due to an unintentional eye poke. The fight ended up being called a No Contest.

This is will be a short roadblock in O’Malley’s career. He will be able to fight again soon against another ranked opponent. Who that opponent is, is the question. Some potential fights can be fighters such as Song Yadong, Dominick Cruz and Rob Font. Cruz seems like a likely option as the two have had beef in the past with O’Malley calling him out.

Image courtesy of Sherdog

Alexander Volkanovski, Champion of Featherweight, (25-1)

In his past couple of fights, Alexander Volkanovski has proven to be on a completely different level than the rest of the division. His fight with Brian Ortega was the first of his showings to start to show his skill level, where he avoided multiple choke attempts and was stellar with his stand-up game. Volkanovski might be the greatest featherweight of all time after humiliating Max Holloway by beating him for the third time.

With Volkanovski only becoming a better fighter many have speculated that he may attempt to become a double champ. This was confirmed during the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. Volkanovski stated that he wants to keep two divisions busy. This would mean a fight between him and Charles Olivera at Lightweight is most likely imminent. A fight between Volkanovski and Olivera would be one of the biggest fights of all time, and a must-see event.

Israel Adesanya, Champion of Middleweight, (23-1)

Israeli Adesanya is another fan favorite in the UFC. In his recent fights including the fight with Jared Connonier he has proven to be levels above his weight class. Although Adesanya might have to continue to fight the middleweights as his most recent attempt to obtain double champ status did not work to his benefit.

Since his next fight is most likely going to be at middleweight here is who I think might get the title shot. Marvin Vettori is primed to have a shot at the title, but he has to get through Robert Whitaker first. That fight is scheduled for September 3rd and will likely be the winner of that fight who gets a chance at Adesanya. Vettori would be the preferred fight for Adesanya as Whittaker already lost to Adesanya twice. Although Vettori also lost to Adesanya twice. But one was during the start of these two careers, and there is not another fight to be made.

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