RANKINGS UFC 333: Volkov outpoints Kuniev, asks White for title shot, ranks No. 2

Volkov asked for a title shot twice in one week and still has no answer. After beating Rizvan Kuniev he put the question to Dana White on the mic, and White's reply at the press conference was a shrug in sentence form. The ranking bump to No. 2 is the first tangible reward.

The fight went the way the size gap suggested. Volkov, 6'7" with an 80-inch reach, worked from distance and went to Kuniev's legs for three rounds, which kept the Dagestani from building consistent offense. ESPN stats, as cited by Essentially Sports, credited him with 14 leg kicks. Late in the fight he took Kuniev's back and threatened a rear-naked choke without finishing. It was his third straight win and his seventh in the last eight, and it came on his 38th birthday.

The cost showed afterward. UFC officials confirmed to MMA Mania that Kuniev was taken to hospital for precautionary X-rays on his leg. Bloody Elbow noted he was the only fighter sent there from a card with six knockouts. Kuniev, a Dagestan-born heavyweight ranked No. 5 going in, has dropped to 2-2 in the UFC, and he fell to No. 7 in the Meta Rankings.

Volkov's argument is simple. His only loss since 2022 was the disputed decision to Ciryl Gane at UFC 310 in December 2024. Gane now holds the belt and meets Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on Nov. 14, a matchup Volkov criticized before his own fight. Days earlier he had crashed the UFC 333 press conference to ask White the same question, and White later said he knew who it was and took it for a bit.

Cormier has now backed him, saying Volkov "solidified himself as the No. 1 contender," unless Tom Aspinall returns right after the November title fight or Alex Pereira scores a spectacular knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335. Heavy on UFC says that winner could get the next shot instead. Bloody Elbow reports Aspinall would jump the queue if cleared to face the Gane-Hokit winner in the first half of 2027. Volkov told Ushataika (translated) that nothing is guaranteed because it is a business, and he picked Gane over Hokit.

Watch Nov. 14 first, then UFC 335 on Dec. 12. Those results will show whether Volkov gets his shot or is passed again.