What’s next for the stars of UFC 301?

The UFC was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for UFC 301 with the flyweight title fight headlining the event.

In the main event, Alexandre Pantoja was looking to defend his title for the second time as he took on Steve Erceg who had an incredible rise to the title as this was just his fourth UFC fight. Jose Aldo, meanwhile, was making his return to the UFC to face Jonathan Martinez.

Ultimately, it was Pantoja who beat Erceg by decision to defend his flyweight title. Aldo, meanwhile, turned back the clock and defeated Martinez by decision to pull off the upset. Now, following UFC 301, here is what I think should be next for the stars of the event.

Alexandre Pantoja

Alexandre Pantoja remained the UFC’s flyweight champion with a hard-fought win over Steve Erceg in a very competitive and entertaining fight.

Pantoja has now defended his title twice, but he has fought most of the top contenders, which was a reason for Erceg to get the title shot. But, a logical next fight is to face the undefeated Muhammad Mokaev who had a case to get the title shot here. Mokaev did take to social media to say he has a fight booked, so Pantoja’s next fight will be the winner of Mokaev vs. whoever he is fighting.

Steve Erceg

Steve Erceg was already fighting for the flyweight title in just his fourth UFC appearance at UFC 301. Although he was a relative unknown, Erceg did well in the fight and proved he belonged in the top five of the division.

Erceg should return in August when the UFC is back in Australia and a fight that makes sense is against Amir Albazi as the winner of that fight could very well get a title shot in early 2025.

Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo made his return to the UFC at UFC 301 to fight out his contract and he beat Jonathan Martinez by a clear-cut decision. Aldo has already talked about going back to boxing, but if he does remain in the UFC, the next fight for him has to be Dominick Cruz as it’s a fight fans have wanted for years.

Jonathan Martinez

Jonathan Martinez entered his UFC 301 fight against Jose Aldo as the betting favorite, but he came up short losing a deciison. It was a dissapointing fight for Martinez who is back to the drawing board.

Martinez is still a top-15 bantamweight and the fight that should be next is against Pedro Munhoz. Munhoz is a good test to see if Martinez is a top-10 guy, while it is a chance for him to avenge the loss of his close friend and teammate Chris Gutierrez.