Alexander Volkanovski may have walked out of UFC 314 with his belt intact, but has also split sections of the community down the middle. On the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, two former kings in their own right, collided—this time on the mic. The clash was about what comes next for the newly crowned featherweight champion. One saw a dynasty in motion. The other saw cracks in the crown. Usman sees a legend in Volkanovski; Cejudo smells blood in the water. In a sport that changes faster than a five-round gas tank, this conversation was quite the reckoning one.

Kamaru Usman came out swinging with praise. From the jump, he shut the door on any talk of vulnerability at the top of the 145-lb food chain. “Alexander Volkanovski is the former and probably the greatest featherweight of all time. It’s not open, it’s closed.”

To Usman, Volkanovski orchestrated a 25-minute masterclass that would’ve made footwork purists purr. “This guy didn’t stop moving side to side, side to side … this angle, that angle … 25 minutes.” He added, “That jab was money… I was so impressed by the concentration and his ability to stay on task and get the job done.”

But across the podcast table, Henry Cejudo saw the same tape and called a completely different fight. For him, the story was in the sloppiness between the sequences. “Yeah 100% I agree with you, Kamaru, but there’s one area where I feel like a guest striker could expose Volkanovski. Leaves his hands down when he’s shooting and he comes up … that was one area.”, Cejudo didn’t stop there.

His voice cut sharper than a well-timed hook to the liver: “He’s still cocking his head back. And that’s a big, big problem, man… when you go up against a guy like Pico or Jean Silva… he could potentially get knocked out.” Where Kamaru Usman saw a champion managing range and pace like a veteran conductor, Henry Cejudo saw technical habits, specifically, hands-down level changes and head pulls that elite finishers feast on.

Henry Cejudo, like no other, just questioned Alexander Volkanovski‘s fight IQ

The subtleties that differentiate a great win from a long-term liability are what what Henry Cejudo pointed out on the Pound 4 Pound podcast. No analyst dared to say on-air Saturday night that Alexander Volkanovski still telegraphs transitions. The Aussie doesn’t slip into takedowns seamlessly. Instead, he relies on sheer timing and anticipation. Against Diego Lopes, that worked. But against a guy like Jean Silva, who reads like a livewire and explodes like one, too, it might be fatal.

Cejudo’s mention of Aaron Pico is serious. Pico, who’s still under the radar for UFC casuals, has been crafting some of the game’s sharpest entries and reactions off feints. And while Jean Silva’s bark grabs headlines, his strike-to-takedown anticipation ratio is off the charts—ask Bryce Mitchell’s camp. Silva sprawled and faced punishment with surgical precision for a reason.

However, Kamaru Usman is correct about one thing: Alexander Volkanovski’s championship composure has been second to none. His ability to let a fight breathe, to slow the tempo and still own the moment, is a trait only the greats possess.“He did it a few times to let him know, ‘I’m not scared of you, young bull’, but those were the moments where he did get kind of stumbled and caught.”

Yet, that very composure, that commitment to proving a point inside the pocket, is exactly what opens the back door. Fighters like Yair Rodríguez learned this the hard way. Silva, Pico, maybe even Topuria—they won’t ask twice. They’ll walk through it. And while Usman said, “The number one contender spot is open… wide open right now…” Cejudo hinted at a brewing storm: the throne might still be held, but the next seismic shift is gathering momentum.

Who do you agree with—Kamaru Usman or Henry Cejudo? Let us know in the comments down below.