UFC 301 Preview: 26 Random Tidbits, Facts And Storylines

After yet another forgetful Apex event, in which Alex Perez starched Matheus Nicolau (watch it), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) travels to Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this weekend (Sat., May 4, 2024) for UFC 301, its fifth pay-per-view (PPV) event of 2024.

In the pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja, will take on surging Australian contender, Steve Erceg, while in the co-main event, Jose Aldo — a.k.a. “The King of Rio” — comes out of retirement to punch Jonathan Martinez in the face.

While UFC 301 isn’t a strong PPV (thanks UFC 300), it is loaded with Brazilian talent up and down the card, making the atmosphere incredible. So, before PPV action kicks off on ESPN+ PPV, let’s checkout some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of UFC 301 …

‘Marvelous City’

UFC returns to Rio de Janeiro this weekend for the eleventh time. The promotion was in the “Marvelous City” in Jan. 2023 for UFC 283, where Jamahal Hill defeated Glover Teixeira to capture the Light Heavyweight championship (watch highlights). Brandon Moreno unified the Flyweight championship by stopping Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main event (relive it here).

Brazilians In Brazil

Fourteen Brazilians are fighting this weekend in their home country, and there is at least one Brazilian in every fight.

Main Event Noobs

UFC 301 will mark Pantoja’s first-ever UFC main event after 14 fights in the promotion. The highest he has been on a card is the co-main event (UFC 290 and UFC 296). Erceg, who has just three fights inside the Octagon, will also fight in his first main event.

Well, That Was Quick

Indeed, after a trio of bouts with the promotion, “Astroboy” will compete for the Flyweight title this weekend. The matchmaking shocked UFC fans because there were other deserving contenders, but after Erceg slept Matt Schnell, UFC made up its mind.

Erceg has been in UFC less than one year.

Mirror

If you didn’t know, Erceg got into mixed martial arts (MMA) because of Brock Lesnar. He was a big WWE fan, and when he saw a smaller guy like Frank Mir take out Lesnar, that was all he needed.

Well, just like the guy who got him into fighting, he will get a title shot in less than four fights in UFC. Lesnar got it after two fights, and Erceg got it with three … and they both got title shots within a year’s time.

Underrated AF

When you compare Pantoja’s and Erceg’s resumes, they are truly night and day and are not comparable. However, that allows one to appreciate the work that Pantoja has put in.

In his last eight fights, “The Cannibal” has fought Figueiredo, Schnell, Perez, Askar Askarov, Manel Kape, Moreno and Brandon Royval (twice).

Hometown Boy

While Pantoja has been competing in UFC, he has never fought in Brazil, which is weird. At UFC 301, he will fight in Brazil and headline in his home city of Rio de Janeiro.

The “King of Rio” is also fighting this weekend …

WELCOME BACK, JOSE!

Okay, enough teasing; Jose Aldo comes out of his MMA retirement this weekend. The former long-time Featherweight king retired at UFC 278 after losing to Merab Dvalishvili and has been focusing on boxing for the last couple of years.

According to Aldo, his body just needed a break from a 20-year MMA career. He also wants to complete his current UFC contract, which has one fight left, so a final UFC fight in Rio de Janiero makes all the sense in the world.

Too bad it wasn’t against Dominck Cruz.

Leg Kick Battle

We all know Aldo has some of the best leg kicks in UFC history. Do you remember what he did to Urijah Faber?

Martinez — the man across the cage from Aldo this weekend — also has disgusting leg kicks. In fact, two of his last three wins have come via leg-kick technical knockout.

Hopefully, Aldo and Martinez will kick the shit out of each other.

Winless In Brazil

UFC veteran, Anthony Smith, returns to action this weekend against Vitor Petrino. “Lionheart” is winless (0-2) in Brazil and hopes to get his first win.

His first defeat came against Antonio Braga in 2013, and then five years later, he lost to Thiago Santos.

Top 10 Shot

Petrino was bumped out of the Top 15 rankings this past week and will have a chance to snatch Smith’s No. 10 ranking this weekend.

The undefeated Brazilian is 4-0 in the promotion with two finishes.

‘Duelist’ Returns To Brazil

The last time Ihor Potieria fought in Brazil, he retired UFC legend, Shogun Rua, and then danced over his body, which pissed off the fanbase. Since then, the Ukrainian fighter has gone 1-2, winning “Fight of the Night” at UFC Austin.

Doubling Up

Potieria is stepping up on relatively short notice, replacing Makhmud Muradov, which was surprising because UFC CEO, Dana White, announced he is fighting Sharabutdin Magomedov at UFC Saudi Arabia.

Even though Potieria is fighting Michel Pereira at UFC 301, he plans to return to fight at UFC Saudi Arabia.

Set Up?

According to No. 13-ranked Middleweight, Paul Craig, UFC is setting up No. 14-seeded, Caio Borralho, to beat him.

Craig is 1-1 since moving down to the Middleweight division. He is also winless (0-2) in Brazil.

Welcome To UFC!

Three fighters are making their UFC debuts this weekend at UFC 301.

• Mauricio Ruffy (9-1) takes on Jamie Mullarkey. Ruffy is coming off a contract-winning performance on season seven of Contender Series against Raimond Magomedaliev, where he finished him in the third round. Ruffy holds a 100 percent finish rate with nine knockouts and is a teammate of Borralho.
• Dione Barbosa (6-2) fights fellow newcomer Ernesta Kareckaite (5-0-1). Both fighters are coming off contract-winning performances on season seven of Contender Series. Barbosa tapped Rainn Guerrero in the first round, while Kareckaite is coming off a split decision win over Carli Judice.

‘Killer’ Killer

Speaking of Barbosa, she is the last person to defeat Karine Silva, who is currently on a nine-fight win streak and is ranked No. 12 in the Flyweight division. Silva just defeated Ariane da Silva last week, too.

Photo by Huw Fairclough/Getty Images

Jack Is Back

After a 14-month layoff, Jack Shore returns this weekend against Joanderson Brito. Shore has been recovering from a nasty hand injury, as well as being a first time dad. “Tank” was once touted as one of the biggest prospects in all of Europe. And while he still has hype behind him, he has cooled a little because of his loss to Ricky Simon in 2022. Shore moved up to Featherweight last year and steamrolled Makwan Amirkhani.

Brito is a tough matchup for anyone, so if Shore can defeat him convincingly, a big matchup will follow.

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Sweet 16 Beatdown

Karolina Kowalkiewicz takes on Iasmin Lucindo this weekend, and it will be the largest age gap between women in UFC history — 16 years. Lucindo is 22 and was born in 2002, while Kowalkiewicz is 38.

The UFC veteran is riding a four-fight win streak, while the young Brazilian has won two straight.

‘Prelims’ Banger

One of the best fights on UFC 301 takes place seven fights into the “Prelims.” Myktybek Orolbai returns after turning heads in his UFC debut when he made light work of Uros Medic on short notice. He holds a 92 percent finish rate and is dropping back down to his proper weight class (Lightweight).

Orolbai takes on Elves Brenner, who has been perfect thus far in UFC, racking up three wins, with his last two being vicious knockouts (watch highlights).

Rebooked!

Ismael Bonfim and Vinc Pichel will finally fight on Saturday after having their first fight canceled back in Nov. 2023 at UFC Sao Paulo. It was canceled because Bonfim missed weight and Pichel refused to fight him.

Hopefully, everything goes right!

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC 301 Fight Leader

The fighter with the most career fights competing at UFC 301 is Smith (56).

UFC 301 Fight Rookie

The fighter with the least amount of career fights competing at UFC 301 is Kareckaite (6).

UFC 301 Knockout King

The fighter with the most amount of career knockouts competing at UFC 301 is Smith (19).

UFC 301 Submission Savant

The fighter with the most amount of career submissions competing at UFC 301 is Smith (15).

Winners And Losers

Eighteen fighters are coming off wins, eight are coming off losses.

Multi-Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

• One Light Heavyweight fight
• Two Middleweight fights
• Four Lightweight fights
• One Featherweight fights
• One Bantamweight fight
• Two Flyweight fight
• One women’s Strawweight fight
• One women’s Flyweight fight

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, UFC 301’s “biggest” underdog is Potieria at +440.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 301 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 301: “Pantoja vs. Erceg” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.