In the golf world, Saturday is affectionately known as “Moving Day,” which is a reference to how competitors try to move up the leaderboard to get themselves into a position to make a run first place during Sunday’s final round.

This Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami is “Moving Day” for the UFC featherweight division, as not only will Ilia Topuria officially vacate his title and a new champion be crowned, but four other pairs of competitors in the 145-pound weight class will make the walk to the Octagon with designs on improving — or at the very least, solidifying — their standing within the talent-rich division.

As such, there is no better time to take a deep dive into the featherweight ranks and try to get a sense of where things stand, how they could line up after UFC 314 this weekend, and figure out the ascending fighters to pay close attention to going forward.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

With Topuria having abdicated the throne, this weekend will see the coronation of the seventh featherweight champion in UFC history, as former titleholder Alexander Volkanovski faces off with streaking Brazilian standout Diego Lopes in a battle for the vacant belt.

This is without question the right pairing to have facing off against one another under these circumstances and a fascinating matchup that carries an abundance of questions that cannot and will not be answered until these two finally start slinging leather in South Beach.

Volkanovski lost the title last February when he was knocked out by Topuria and has been on the sidelines taking well-earned (and much needed) time away ever since, while Lopes has rattled off five straight wins to emerge as a top contender in the division since his impressive short-notice debut opposite Movsar Evloev a touch under two years ago.

In terms of recent results, it profiles as two athletes heading in opposite directions, but whether that is actually the case is one of those myriad questions we will get answers to this weekend. In terms of the landscape if the division going forward, one of the fascinating things about this matchup is that even if Volkanovski wins and ascends to the throne for a second time, he’ll do so with almost an entirely new collection of contenders waiting for their chance to challenge for the title.

The men he previously vanquished have either moved on from the division (Max Holloway), expressed a desire and intention to do so (Brian Ortega) or retired from the sport (Chan Sung Jung), with former interim champ Yair Rodriguez (more on him shortly) standing as the only man still hanging around near the top of the division.

Regardless of who departs Miami with 10 pounds of leather and gold in their luggage, they will have ample suitors, and the UFC will have a ton of different directions it could go when mapping out the future of the featherweight ranks.

The 33-year-old Brit has won eight straight, is 8-0-1 in the UFC, and 16-0-1 overall. He’s operating on that same wavelength that Leon Edwards did as he worked his way up the welterweight ranks before claiming gold, and Belal Muhammad did on his journey to dethroning Edwards last summer and claiming the title for himself, consistently turning in quality efforts that generate minimal fanfare, but ultimately cannot be denied.

He’s technical, defensively responsible, and running hot, even if there aren’t a slew of highlight reel finishes to pull from, and with a number of competitors still out on the course, their fates yet to be determined, he’s already in the back with his feet up, knowing he did his part to put himself in the mix no matter what transpires this weekend.

Darren Elkins and Julian Erosa meet in the night’s first featherweight pairing, but neither of them need to be considered in the championship mix, though that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a little love here. Both are ideal “ecosystem fighters” in that they’re battle-tested tough outs that can be matched up against anyone in the division, and are guaranteed to make whoever is standing across from them work hard if they want to earn a victory. Their bout this weekend is likely to set the Fight of the Night bar early in the evening, and is one you do not want to miss.

While the veteran duo closes out the early prelims, Dan Ige and Sean Woodson close out the televised slate, which you can catch on Sportsnet.

Ige is one of the most respected and experienced fighters in the top 15 and someone that can ruin the hopes of an ascending talent like Woodson, while the lanky Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) grad has posted four straight wins and a seven-fight unbeaten streak since dropping his sophomore appearance inside the Octagon; Erosa tapped him out in that one. This is a battle for real estate in the lower third of the rankings, with Ige looking to defend his spot at No. 15 and Woodson angling to move into the exclusive neighbourhood, and how it plays out will provide vital information about what the immediate future holds for both men.

The first of the main card’s triumvirate of bouts in the 145-pound weight class features the aforementioned Rodriguez welcoming Patricio Pitbull to the UFC for the first time.

Rodriguez has always been projected and viewed as one of the elite talents in the division, and seemed to affirm those designations by claiming the interim title a little over two years ago with a second-round submission win over Emmett at UFC 284. Since then, however, the 32-year-old has been handed back-to-back third-round stoppage losses by Volkanovski and Ortega, leaving many wondering if he’s truly deserving of a place amongst the division’s elite. Without question, though, a win over Pitbull would put him back in the title mix going forward.

Pitbull has faced questions about his status in the division for years, but for very different reasons, as the Brazilian has been thriving as one of the best fighters coming outside of the UFC’s borders.

After a 15-year, 30-fight run under the Bellator banner that saw him earn championship gold in two weight classes and 24 total victories, the 37-year-old will finally cross the threshold into the UFC cage for the first time this weekend, with a chance to immediately insert himself into the title conversation with a win over Rodriguez.

The middle bout in the main card club sandwich of featherweight contests (they’re the bread) is a clash between Bryce Mitchell and Jean Silva.

Currently stationed at No. 13 in the rankings, Mitchell rebounded from his hellacious knockout loss to Emmett two Decembers ago with a third-round stoppage win over Kron Gracie last December. He holds wins over Ige, Edson Barboza, and Andre Fili, and his only other loss came against Topuria, so he’s very much entrenched in the rankings and established as a legit top-15 guy in the stacked weight class.

Silva went 3-0 as a UFC rookie last year, then lit up Melsik Baghdasaryan in Seattle in February before calling for this exact opportunity during his post-fight interview. The Fighting Nerds representative and DWCS grad has won a dozen straight, including all four of his UFC appearances, all by stoppage, and has a real “this dude is big-time trouble” vibe at the moment.

And that’s why this is a great matchup for both men. Mitchell gets the chance to defend his spot in the pecking order while halting the climb of a streaking, unranked competitor who will enter their UFC 314 encounter as the betting favourite, while Silva has the chance to punch his ticket to the top-15 by beating a guy that is 8-2 in 10 UFC appearances, with his losses coming to the former champion and former interim title challenger.

Though they’re not competing this weekend, here are a few other fighters that have to be mentioned when discussing the title picture and rankings in the featherweight division.

Movsar Evloev: The 31-year-old Russian is 19-0 overall, 9-0 in the UFC, and has wins over Ige, Lopes, Arnold Allen, and Aljamain Sterling. On merit, he should probably be challenging Volkanovski this weekend, given that he beat Lopes, but he’s less flashy and memorable than Murphy, and feels like he’s perpetually going to be stuck waiting for a chance until he turns in a dominant showing against an elite opponent.

Arnold Allen: After suffering back-to-back decision losses to Holloway and Evloev, the talented Brit picked up a unanimous decision win over Giga Chikadze last time out, steadying himself in the hierarchy. Allen was running hot after his win over Dan Hooker, but misplayed his hand (in my opinion), got fed to Holloway for no real great reason, and is now kind of languishing just outside the title picture.

Josh Emmett: It’s difficult to know where the longtime Team Alpha representative (they’ve changed the name) stands at the moment, as he ended an extended absence with a loss to Murphy this past Saturday, and had said going in that he was aiming to make one final push towards the title. He’s a top-15 fixture and tough night at the office for everyone he’s matched up with should he remain active and continue competing, but it’ll be interesting to see how he responds to this setback.

Youssef Zalal: “The Moroccan Devil” made a splash in his return to the UFC last year, posting a trio of stoppage wins, capped by a second-round submission victory over Jack Shore in Edmonton. Earlier this year, Zalal moved to 4-0 during his second stint competing in the Octagon by out-hustling Calvin Kattar, and is arguably the top emerging name in the rankings at the moment.

While there are a host of tenured veterans and solid all-around competitors that reside in the “Second 15” at featherweight, they’re largely individuals whose ceilings have been defined or who project to top out in the lower third of the rankings.

That’s not said as a knock either. It’s difficult to have an extended career in the UFC, and being the 16th or 19th or 24th best fighter in a loaded class like featherweight is outstanding, and there are dozens upon dozens of athletes that would love to trade places with the likes of Steve Garcia, Chepe Mariscal, or Nate Landwehr.

But from a “looking to the future” perspective, these are the up-and-coming fighters you need to know in the 145-pound weight class.

Kevin Vallejos: The recent DWCS grad scored a first-round stoppage win over SeungWoo Choi in his promotional debut a couple weeks back, and pushed Silva to a decision in their Season 7 meeting on the annual talent search series at the UFC APEX. He’s 23 years old, 15-1 as a professional, and has a world of upside.

Felipe Lima: After debuting with a short-notice submission win over Muhammad Naimov, Lima opted to stick around at featherweight, collecting a unanimous decision win over Miles Johns. The former Oktagon MMA bantamweight champion has won 14 straight, looks like the genuine article, and is someone to keep close tabs on, whether he stays at ’45 or returns to the 135-pound ranks.

Jose Delgado: One of a couple members of The MMA Lab to matriculate to the Octagon through the previous season of DWCS, Delgado posted a first-round stoppage win over Connor Matthews in his promotional debut earlier this year. He’s 9-1 as a pro, has won six straight, all by stoppage, and could very well follow a similar trajectory as previous standouts from the Glendale, Arizona camp like Mario Bautista and Marcus McGhee.