The best and worst from UFC 237: Namajunas vs. Andrade

#2 Best: Volkanovski stakes his claim as the top contender at 145lbs

Alexander Volkanovski looks ready for a title shot after beating up Jose Aldo

Quite how long Max Holloway will be out for following his foray up to 155lbs last month is unknown right now, but when he does come back, we know exactly who will be waiting for him now: Aussie standout Alexander Volkanovski, who thoroughly beat the former champion Jose Aldo last night, joining Holloway and Conor McGregor in a pretty exclusive club of fighters to beat the legendary Brazilian.

It was a tremendous performance from Volkanovski, too. Aldo had looked as dangerous as ever in his last two fights, but he couldn’t get anything going against ‘Alexander the Great’ here, as Volkanovski continually walked him down, landed the heavier shots and had enough about him to avoid anything major that the former champion threw back at him.

Granted, this didn’t look like the same wildman Aldo who took out Renato Moicano in February, but the truth is that Volkanovski didn’t allow him to fight in that way. From a fighter who I expected to flame out when he faced elite opponents to someone able to adjust and defeat Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes back-to-back, Volkanovski’s definitely earned a title shot now and so I hope he gets it soon.