Saturday's UFC 301 card will be the promotion's first in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since UFC 283 in January of 2023. There have been some complaints about the quality of the line-up, and while there's certainly no denying it's a bit short on household names, it looks like it could we could be in for a very entertaining night of fights nonetheless.
In a somewhat unusual twist, the top spot for the card will go to the flyweights, with champion and hometown hero Alexandre Pantoja defending the belt against Steve Erceg from Australia. Pantoja has long stood out as one of the flyweight division's best fighters, but after he won the belt from Brandon Moreno earlier this year, he's the top dog outright. Erceg is a newer face in the division—so much so that people were shocked when he announced as Pantoja's first challenger—but after 11-straight wins, most notably a sizzling one-punch KO of Matt Schnell, he's clearly a threat to anybody in the weight class.
The co-main event could fairly be called the people's main event, as MMA legend Jose Aldo returns from a brief retirement to take on Jonathan Martinez at bantamweight. Aldo is arguably the best featherweight ever, and while he was removed from the bantamweight rankings after announcing his retirement, stands to burst back into the title conversation with a win over Martinez, who is ranked No. 12.
In the middle bout of the main card, No. 10 light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith will look to slow the rise of undefeated Brazilian Vitor Petrino, and take a big step toward a fight with champion Alex Pereira in the process.
Before that, we'll get back-to-back middleweight fights to kick off the main card. First, fast-rising Brazilian Caio Borralho will take on Scottish grappler Paul Craig. Then, Brazilian action fighter Michel Pereira will take on Ukraine's Ihor Potieria.
These are some tough fights to call, but as always, the B/R combat sports squad has you covered for pre-fight predictions. Here's who we see winning in Rio.
