Jean Silva stunned everyone with just how easy he made the Bryce Mitchell fight look. Not only did he submit the grappling maestro in their UFC 314 clash after battering him on the feet, but he was having fun doing it! As usual, there is that usual question on everyone’s mind after this high-profile win. Who will ‘Lord’ put to sleep next? And the Brazilian had the answer about at least who he wanted to fight next. Enter the newly-minted featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who reclaimed the title in the main event of the same card Silva stopped Mitchell.

“The right thing to do next is to go directly to the belt. I believe I have the credentials,” Silva told Ariel Helwani through a translator on the latter’s YouTube show. However, it seems Silva is under no delusions that he isn’t next in line for a title shot, and tempered his demands in the very next sentence. “And if this is good for the UFC, I would like to do this, if not, I would like to have somebody that would get me as close as possible to this goal,” he added.

As far as how a possible fight with ‘Volk’ will go, the Brazilian did not make any tall claims about beating the Aussie legend but did promise he would be looking for the knockout from the very first bell. “I actually believe that between me and Volkanovski, we would have a fantastic fight. I like him very much, but I think this would be a good fight for me and I could go for a knockout in the first or second round,” ‘Lord’ declared.

Indeed, Silva is unranked as of now, but that will change after the new rankings hit. Mitchell, after all, was ranked #13 going into UFC 314 and the Brazilian will probably take his place in the rankings when they are updated. From there, he could well get a top-ten opponent, given the splash his win over the American has made in the MMA world. But to talk about fighting for the title when you are not even in the rankings does seem a bit too much. Can’t blame a guy for trying though! So if not Jean Silva, who will Alexander Volkanovski fight next?

Two names stand out as Alexander Volkanovski’s next potential opponent other than Jean Silva

“September. I mean, if everything’s good I’d probably like to go quicker than that. That’s probably the second fight,” Alexander Volkanovski told reporters at the post-UFC 314 presser. Of course, many fans were hoping ‘Volk’ would take a longer break, especially after his UFC 314 battle with Diego Lopes, where he briefly went blind in one eye. But who does he want for his first title defense in his second title run? Well, there are two front-runners in the division at the moment. Undefeated Russian star Movsar Evloev, and former title contender, Yair Rodriguez, who has already fought and lost to ‘Volk’ two years ago.

But that was then! This is now after the once-nigh unbeatable Volkanovski has been knocked out twice in two years. Could Rodriguez beat this version of ‘Volk’? Well, the Brazilian’s impressive performance against the legendary Patricio Pitbull did make it seem like he could. But if it isn’t ‘El Pantera’, Evloev is no walk in the park either. The former M-1 Global featherweight champ is undefeated and has a very high-level grappling game capable of troubling even the Aussie great. While many fans do not take much interest in the Russian, Evloev should be in the conversation for the UFC’s best grapplers.

All of which does make one think that fighting Silva next would actually be better for ‘Volk’ than taking on Evloev or Rodriguez. But Volkanovski isn’t the take-an-easy-fight kinda guy. He just wants to fight the very best in the world. What do you think about Jean Silva wanting to fight for the title after his UFC 314 Bryce Mitchell victory?