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UFC 301 Pantoja v Erceg: Face Off — Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back on the pay-per-view (PPV) market later TONIGHT (Sat., May 4, 2024) to stage UFC 301 form inside Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil live on ESPN+ PPV. Headlining the event will be a men’s Flyweight title fight as division king, Alexandre Pantoja takes on Steve Erceg. In the co-main event, “The King of Rio” and former Featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, returns for one last fight to face off against Jonathan Martinez.

What’s Hot:

The UFC flyweight division is alive and well with a new champion in Alexandre Pantoja, who already has one title defense under his belt. He will look to snatch up his second straight defense and sixth win overall when he takes on unlikely contender, Steve Erceg. I say unlikely because most people were caught off guard when this fight was booked. Erceg is currently ranked No. 10 in the division, which is why more than a few eyebrows were raised.

Nevertheless, Erceg has a huge opportunity to turn the division on its head. “Astro Boy” is currently riding an 11-fight win streak, but only three of those have come inside the Octagon, winning two “Performance of the Night” bonuses in the process. Still, that was enough to earn himself a title shot over many other seasoned veterans ranked ahead of him. But Pantoja is on a healthy run himself and it’s going to have to take a near-perfect performance to snatch the belt away from him. This fight may surprised a lot of people.

What’s Not:

Canelo Alvarez v Jaime Munguia - News Conference

Unfortunately for Dana White and Co., this somewhat lackluster PPV event is going head-to-head with Canelo Alvarez, who will be facing off against Jaime Munguia in a champion boxing match in Las Vegas, Nevada. That means that the buys will likely be less than stellar.

Original Card vs. Actual Card:

Makhmud Muradov was forced out of his scheduled bout against Michel Pereira with an infection, and was ultimately replaced by Ihor Potieria. Pereira has been on a monstrous tear as of late, winning seven straight fights, five at welterweight and two at middleweight. As for Poteira, he was in line to fight Sharabutdin Magomedov next month, but was yanked from that fight to fill this void. Poteira snapped his two-fight skid two months ago be defeating Robert Bryczek via unanimous decision.

Injuries:

No injuries were reported for this event, however, William Gomis was pulled from his fight against Jean Silva after he could barely make it to weigh ins. He reportedly vomited backstage, and as a result the fight was canceled, thankfully.

New Blood:

Ernesta Kareckaite will make her UFC debut after earning a split-decision win on the Contender Series in Sept, 2023 when she battles fellow newcomer, Dione Barbosa. “The Witch” also made her way via the Contender Series, and has a pro record of 6-2. She hasn’t been overly active since making her pro debut in mid-2018, but maybe a win in her debut can get her going.

Mauricio Ruffy had himself an explosive win on the Contender Series thanks to a technical knockout win over Raimond Magomedaliev, which earned him a spot on the UFC roster. Ruffy has stoppage finishes via strikes in all his wins. He will be taking on longtime UFC veteran, Jamie Mullarkey, who hasn’t been very consistent inside the Octagon by going just 5-5. He was last seen getting knocked out in the very first round by Nasrat Haqparast back in Dec. 2023.

How The Prelims Look:

Jack Shore is 6-1 so far under the UFC banner, but it has not been good enough to help him crack the Top 15, Still, the former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion is well on his way, he just needs to keep winning. His next challenge will come against Joanderson Brito, who is currently on a four-fight win streak himself. This fight has the chance to steal the show.

After a horrid run that saw her lose five fights in a row, Karolina Kowalkiewicz has found her groove, winning four in a row. The former women’s strawweight title challenger is hanging strong at No. 13, but she desperately wants to get back into the Top 10 to potentially make another run at the title. She will first have to get through Iasmin Lucindo, who bounced back nicely with two straight wins after coming up short in her UFC debut.

Elves Brener has quietly racked up three straight wins to improve his win streak to five in a row. His opponent, Myktybek Orolbai, is even hotter with a seven-fight win streak, which includes an impressive stoppage win over Uros Medic in his debut. In Lightweight action, Joaquim Silva will attempt to earn his first back-to-back win streak since 2017 when he goes up against Drakkar Klose. With a record of 6-1 over his last seven fights, Klose has some momentum here and another win gets him closer to earning a ranking spot.

In another intriguing Lightweight bout, Ismael Bonfim will take on Vinc Pichel. Bonfim is trying to earn a trip back to the win column after having his 13-fight win streak snapped at the hands of Benoit Saint Denis. As for Pichel, he lost his three-fight win streak to Mark Madsen back in April 2022.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

Alessandro Costa came into the UFC on a seven-fight win streak, but threw up a dud in his debut after he was knocked out by Amir Albazzi (see it again here). He did bounce back with a TKO win over Jimmy Flick, but he was then defeated by headliner Steve Erceg, putting him at 1-2 under the UFC banner. If he loses his second straight when he goes up against Kevin Borjas and drop to 1-3 with the promotion, his position with the UFC could come into question. I don’t think he will get cut so soon, but he does need a win badly here. Borjas could use a win himself after losing his UFC debut in Nov. 2023, because starting 0-2 with UFC will not be a good look.

Interest Level: 6.5/10

In the co-main event of the evening, former UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo will return for one last ride inside the Octagon, as this fight is the last one on his contract. While a boxing career is what he is eying — which I’m not sure is the best idea at this point in his career — he has a tall task at hand against Jonathan Martinez. Aldo hasn’t competed since losing to Merab Dvalshvilli in Aug. 2022 and retired shortly thereafter. Other than to complete the final fight of his contract, there really was no other reason for him to return to the cage. Will a loss hurt his legacy? No. Will it his hurt hist stock for the foreseeable future? Maybe. Going into another form of combat sports on a two-fight skid isn’t the best look, but he still has his name to fall back on. As for Martinez, he is riding a six-fight win streak into what is the biggest fight of his career. Currently ranked at No. 12, a win over Aldo can get him closer to the Top 5. Aldo has the name, the legacy, but Martinez has youth and momentum on his side so don’t be too surprised if he pulls it off here.

Anthony Smith has been talking like he has a chance to fight Alex Pereira (Spoiler alert: he doesn’t). While you can’t knock someone’s confidence, “Lionheart” hasn’t exactly been lighting it up as of late, losing three of his last four fights and was last seen getting knocked out by Khalil Rountree in Dec. 2023, yet somehow he is still ranked in the Top 10. He will be taking on Vitor Petrino, who is undefeated at 11-0, which includes winning his first four fights inside the Octagon. This is a tough task for Smith, and if he loses this fight I don’t want to hear “Poatan’s” name coming out of his mouth ever again.

Paul Craig is just 1-3 in his last four fights. yet the promotion thought it would be a great idea to pit him against Caio Borralho, who is 15-1-1, riding a 12-fight win streak and is undefeated under the UFC banner at 5-0. That said, they are only separated by one spot in the rankings. If Borralho gets another victory here I can see him moving into the Top 10, and he would be primed for bigger and better fights. For Craig, he is just trying to keep his head above water after his recent bad streak, but don’t sleep on him because he hits like a truck.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC 301 Fight Card:

UFC 301 Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:

125 lbs.: UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg

UFC 301 Main Card On ESPN+ PPV (10 p.m. ET):

135 lbs.: Jose Aldo vs. Jonathan Martinez
205 lbs.: Anthony Smith vs. Vitor Petrino
185 lbs.: Michel Pereira vs. Ihor Potieria
185 lbs.: Paul Craig vs. Caio Borralho

UFC 301 ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN2/ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):

145 lbs.: Joanderson Brito vs. Jack Shore
115 lbs.: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Iasmin Lucindo
155 lbs.: Elves Brener vs. Myktybek Orolbai

UFC 301 Early ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN+ (6 p.m. ET):

?155 lbs.: Joaquim Silva vs. Drakkar Klose
155 lbs.: Jamie Mullarkey vs. Mauricio Ruffy
125 lbs.: Dione Barbosa vs. Ernesta Kareckaite
155 lbs.: Ismael Bonfim vs. Vinc Pichel
~~125 lbs.:~~ ~~Alessandro Costa~~ ~~vs.~~ ~~Kevin Borjas~~

*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*

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.