At yesterday’s NFL game between the Chiefs and Cowboys, Dana White finally ended all the anticipation around the first Paramount+ CBS card. During an Instagram live stream, the UFC CEO confirmed the UFC 324 lineup for January 24th at T-Mobile Arena. Then, he also announced the main event for UFC 325, which is set to go down just a week later on February 1st in Sydney. And honestly, the lineup looks stacked. Still, a heatwave of criticism has come White’s way for stripping away four deserving title-shot earners  

As per Dana White’s announcement, the first card under the new broadcasting deal will feature Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, headlining for the interim lightweight title. The second event under the Paramount+ banner will be followed by Alexander Volkanovski facing Diego Lopes in a rematch. These two main events bring plenty of excitement on their own. However, by matchmaking these fights, White actively shut down the chances of four deserving contenders: Arman Tsarukyan at lightweight, Lerone Murphy, Movsar Evloev, and Aljamain Sterling at featherweight.

Dana White stops Arman Tsarukyan’s chances of fighting Ilia Topuria 

At UFC Qatar’s main event, Arman Tsarukyan broke his year-long hiatus and came back looking like a monster. He dominantly submitted Dan Hooker in round two with an arm-triangle choke. Following his fiery performance, the Armenian didn’t waste time calling out lightweight champ Ilia Topuria for a title shot. For most fans, that felt like a predictable step. He’s the number-one 155-pound contender, after all. But Dana White’s recent announcement probably left him disappointed.

Instead of giving ‘Akhalkalaki’s Finest’ his well-earned title opportunity, White booked an interim championship fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. He even made it clear that the winner gets Topuria next, since the champ is out for a bit due to personal circumstances. Just like that, Tsarukyan’s number-one contender status got tossed aside.

After the announcement, Arman posted on X with what felt like a broken heart: “make it make sense 🤦🏻‍♂️.” And honestly, he has a point. This fight doesn’t make a lot of sense right now.

With Islam Makhachev leaving lightweight to chase welterweight gold, and Ilia Topuria stepping into the vacant throne, Tsarukyan looked like the most dangerous challenger in the division. Not just because of his wrestling arsenal, but also because Pimblett hasn’t beaten a single top-10 opponent.  His recent opponents have a combined 0-13 record. The Liverpudlian’s biggest selling point is the history of animosity with Topuria, plus his win over Michael Chandler, who’s riding a three-fight losing streak and still waiting for Conor McGregor.

Gaethje, on the other hand, claimed that after beating Rafael Fiziev, he deserved a title shot. Fans didn’t buy that as enough to leap the line, especially after Gaethje said he’d rather retire than take non-title fights. So the UFC paired Gaethje and Pimblett together and completely iced Tsarukyan, the actual rightful contender.

And if that wasn’t messy enough, the next main event announcement stirred even more controversy, taking not one but three deserving featherweights out of the title race. 

UFC 325: Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes killed Lerone Murphy’s title shot 

Well, if UFC fans weren’t happy with how Dana White handled the UFC 324 main event, things only got worse with the next marquee card a week later. The promotion’s second event of 2026 will be headlined by featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski in Sydney, right in front of his home crowd. On paper, that sounds perfect. But the moment fans heard he’d be facing a familiar foe, Diego Lopes, the excitement dropped instantly. The 145-pound division has fresh contenders lined up for him, and none of them got the call.

First up was Lerone Murphy. The undefeated Brit, who scored the biggest knockout of his career against Aaron Pico at the UFC 319 co-main event and became an overnight star. Even Volkanovski called him out for a December fight, which never materialized. Still, nobody expected Murphy to be skipped over, especially with Lopes earning the title shot off a win against Jean Silva at UFC Noche.

Murphy voiced his disappointment on X, writing, “Missing the opportunity to fight one of featherweight’s GOATS is what hurts me the most. It’s not about who’s the best anymore. It’s about who’s most popular.”

It genuinely feels like the UFC pushed Lopes into the title picture because he has strong fan engagement. To be fair, the Brazilian did prove he could hang with Volkanovski in their UFC 314 fight. Even though he lost, the matchup delivered. Still, none of that changes the fact that Lopes is getting another title shot while Murphy stays undefeated without a chance.

And as Murphy didn’t get the nod, two other featherweights who arguably deserved it even more were left waiting too.  

Aljamain Sterling and Movsar Evloev ignored by White 

Even when Ilia Topuria held the featherweight throne, Movsar Evloev stood as the prime challenger waiting for his shot. And now that Alexander Volkanovski has started his second reign, the Russian still sits as the number one contender, stuck in the same spot. Evloev was indeed partly responsible for the eleven cancelled fights in his UFC run, but it doesn’t erase the fact that he’s beaten some of the top names in the division, including Diego Lopes.

Even though the Ingushetia native has a strong case, White doesn’t seem too eager to hand him a title fight. Those repeated cancellations really do raise credibility questions. But that issue doesn’t apply to Aljamain Sterling.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say ‘Funkmaster’ is a bantamweight legend. And if Dana White wanted to, he could’ve easily made Volkanovski vs Sterling, a superfight that once felt inevitable. It would’ve boosted both ‘The Great’ and ‘Aljo’s legacy since they’re considered among the best to ever do it. Also, Sterling recently defeated former title challenger Brian Ortega, and that was another reason for the promotion to make this fight. 

So those are the four fighters who lost their shot at championship gold because of White’s decision. Now tell us, who do you think got affected the most? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.