With a loaded fight card and plenty of high stakes involved, UFC 321 promised much at Etihad Arena, but on a night that ended in anti-climactic fashion, who came away from their main card matchups with their stock the highest?
UFC 321 Power Rankings
RDX Sports‘ Editor-in-Chief and veteran MMA writer Simon Head casts his eye over the main card winners, and presents his Power Rankings for UFC 321.
1. Mackenzie Dern
From the moment Dern arrived in the UFC, expectations were sky-high. The former ADCC and IBJJF jiu-jitsu world champion was always going to attract plenty of attention, and over the past seven years, we’ve watched Dern evolve as a mixed martial artist as she’s grown from grappling phenom to all-round MMA fighter.
On Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, that evolution took her to the undisputed UFC women’s strawweight title, as she showcased her more well-rounded MMA skillset to outwork a game, but ever-so-slightly outgunned Virna Jandiroba after five competitive rounds in the co-main event.
With all of her opponents so focused on avoiding grappling situations with Dern, the Brazilian has had to work hard to improve her striking. And, under the watchful eye of respected coach Jason Parillo – who cornered Michael Bisping to the undisputed middleweight title at UFC 199 – Dern’s work in the boxing gloves in the gym has translated to improved striking performances in the four-ounce gloves on fight night as she rounded out her game to become a genuine contender at 115 pounds.
And, with Zhang Weili departing the division to challenge Valentina Shevchenko for the undisputed UFC women’s flyweight title at UFC 322, Dern got the chance to fight for the newly-vacated title against Jandiroba, who she’d previously defeated on the scorecards at UFC 256 back in 2020.
Both fighters had improved significantly better ahead of the rematch, but in the end, it was Dern’s improved striking that proved the difference-maker as she outstruck Jandiroba en route to a unanimous decision victory, and an emotional title win.
2. Azamat Murzakanov
Murzakanov might not have been the biggest name on the UFC 321 fight card, but those close to the game know that the undefeated Russian light heavyweight contender is one of the most interesting stories to follow in the UFC’s 205-pound division.
After blasting his way to a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, Murzakanov has largely blown away his opposition in the Octagon so far. Only seasoned kickboxing practitioner Dustin Jacoby has managed to go the distance with “The Professional”, who finished Tafon Nchukwi, Devin Clark, Alonzo Menifield and Brendson Ribeiro en route to his main card opener with Austrian contender Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 321.
Faced with a seasoned striker with plenty of top-level experience in the UFC, Murzakanov was set for the biggest test of his UFC career to date, and he rose to the challenge superbly as he dropped and finished Rakic with a ramrod jab to claim a first-round TKO and improve his record to 16-0.
Given how the fight night panned out overall, Murzakanov can count himself very unlucky not to have picked up a post-fight bonus for that performance. But, if the UFC grants his post-fight request to fight in a number-one contender fight next, that missing paycheck will likely soon be forgotten.
3. Umar Nurmagomedov
Nurmagomedov is so good, it seems crazy to think that he needed a big performance here to re-establish his credentials as a championship contender. But that narrative was front and center as he looked to bounce back from his title fight defeat to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 back in January.
If there were any question marks, Nurmagomedov quickly erased them as he delivered another strong performance to outbattle Mario Bautista over three rounds. Bautista went into the bout on an impressive eight-fight win streak, but that run came to an end as Nurmagomedov leaned heavily on his wrestling to take the American off his feet and put him on defense for long spells during the fight.
There was one scary moment when he walked into a perfectly-timed knee and looked rocked. But the threat of the takedown seemed to prevent Bautista from closing in with follow-up strikes, and the Russian quickly recovered.
That moment aside, Nurmagomedov looked a cut above one of the trickiest contenders in the bantamweight division as he put himself right back into the title conversation at 135 pounds. Former champ Petr Yan is next up to challenge Dvalishvili for the title, and you can bet Nurmagomedov will be a very interested spectator. He may well be next.
4. Alexander Volkov
The main card heavyweight bout between Volkov and Jailton Almeida was painted as a de-facto title eliminator, but after 15 minutes of largely incident-free competition, it’s hard for either man to campaign too hard for a title shot.
Volkov got the victory via split decision as his limited, but successful, striking output outweighed the lengthy, but largely ineffective, positional control from Almeida, who seemed unwilling to stand and trade on the feet, or open up his posture to chase a submission, or a TKO finish, on the ground.
In the end, it was a lesson to grapple-heavy fighters that the “lay-and-pray” approach no longer guarantees victories at the sport’s highest level. The judges want to see effectiveness in fighters’ work, and in a fight where offense was at a premium, Volkov was marginally more effective.
Technically, he should be the next man in line for a title shot. But, with his performance doing little to lift his stock, plus the unfortunate events of the title fight in the main event, it’s likely “Drago” will be asked to fight, and win, again before he gets his shot at the gold in 2026.
T5. Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane
The main event between Aspinall and Gane was shaping up to be a cracker of a heavyweight title fight. Both men were landing their shots, and Gane had already bloodied the newly-crowned undisputed champion’s nose. But, in the final minute of the opening round, disaster struck.
An attempted palm-off by Gane resulted in his index and middle fingers poking Aspinall in both eyes as the Englishman was sent reeling backwards in pain. The foul was accidental, but a fight-ender, as the bout was waved off and declared a no-contest.
It meant that Aspinall’s chance to cement himself as the top dog at heavyweight was stopped in its tracks, while Gane’s encouraging start was all for nothing as his fingers cost him the chance to build on his good early work.
As a result, both men will have to head back to Europe to rest, recover, then prepare for a rematch, with UFC President and CEO Dana White stating his intention to rebook the fight as soon as possible.
We just have to hope for a clean fight, and a definitive result, when they meet again.
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