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It’s been three weeks since the stellar UFC 300 card rocked the mixed martial arts world and left many believing it was the single greatest night of professional fighting ever. UFC 301 is not that. But, then again, no card is going to live up to that now legendary event so we’ll take what we can get. And if this sport has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected especially when a fight card doesn’t look that great on paper.
Saturday’s UFC action goes down at the Rio Arena in Rio de Janeiro headlined by one of Brazil’s finest as champion Alexandre Pantoja looks to defend his flyweight belt against relative UFC newcomer Steve Erceg. The title fight is no gimme for Pantoja, who was born and raised in Rio, with Erceg coming in as a +165 underdog and riding an 11-fight win streak. The King of Rio José Aldo also makes his return to the Octagon after a 21-month “retirement” to face the very dangerous Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event.
A cast of heavy Brazilian favorites (at least according to the oddsmakers) fill out the rest of the pay-per-view portion of Saturday’s card. UFC veteran and former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is a 4-1 underdog in his fight vs. up-and-comer Vitor Petrino, who is undefeated at 11-0 with 4 wins in the UFC since his March 2023 debut with the promotion. Two middleweight scraps open the main card with the electric Michel Pereira fighting Ukraine’s Ihor Potieria after submission specialist Paul Craig faces Caio Borralho in the main card opener.
Follow all of the action right here on Yahoo Sports with our live blog below where we’ll be sharing all of the latest results and highlights throughout the entire card.
Live7 updates
UFC 301 main card (Start time 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV)
• Flyweight championship: Alexandre Pantoja (-200) vs. Steve Erceg (+165)
• Bantamweight: Jose Aldo (+135) vs. Jonathan Martinez (-165)
• Light heavyweight: Anthony Smith (+400) vs. Vitor Petrino (-550)
• Middleweight: Michel Pereira (-450) vs. Ihor Potieria (+325)
• Middleweight: Paul Craig (+340) vs. Caio Borralho (-450)
UFC 301 prelims, odds (Start time 8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+)
• Featherweight: Joanderson Brito (-165) vs. Jack Shore (+140)
• Women’s strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz (+260) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (-350)
• Lightweight: Elves Brener (+200) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (-250)
• Lightweight: Joaquim Silva (+135) vs. Drakkar Klose (-160)
UFC 301 early prelims, highlights, odds (Live now on ESPN+)
• Lightweight: Mauricio Ruffy (-155) vs. Jamie Mullarkey (+140)
• Women’s flyweight: Dione Barbosa (-210) vs. Ernesta Kareckaite (+175)
• Lightweight: Ismael Bonfim (-500) vs. Vinc Pachel (+360)
• Flyweight: Alessandro Costa def. Kevin Borjas by TKO (ground and pound) at 1:35 of R2: