Brett OkamotoOct 26, 2025, 08:00 AM ET
- Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
The UFC doesn't have a new heavyweight champion after UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, but it doesn't have a champion with a successful title defense, either. Instead, it really got a worst-case scenario: a no contest because of an accidental eye poke. It's almost certain the UFC will have champion Tom Aspinall run it back with Ciryl Gane, especially since the two competitors fought to such an even first round before the foul. The only question is when.
Here's a look at those scenarios and what could be next for the other UFC 321 main-card stars.
Tom Aspinall, heavyweight champion, and Ciryl Gane
What should be next: UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas BOOK IT RIGHT NOW. If Aspinall did not suffer permanent or long-term damage to his eyes, get this thing on the books immediately. The UFC's final pay-per-view of 2025 is on Dec. 6. Book it for that card. If not, book it for the first event of 2026. Just book it. Now. They're in shape, they just prepared for one another, just answered a million questions about each other. Let's go. The sooner the better.
Mackenzie Dern, strawweight
Who should be next: Tatiana Suarez
It's hard to not be happy for Dern, who took a 16-UFC fight path to becoming a champion. If you had asked me in 2018, when Dern first signed with the UFC, if she'd still be chasing a UFC title after 15 appearances, I doubt I would have said yes. Not that Dern didn't have heart, in fact, that's one thing she always has had. But that's a long time to be in competition without a UFC championship, and I probably would have thought that she either would have burned out, moved on to something else, or that her submission skills simply wouldn't have translated into longevity. She's at the top now, and it's certainly not going to be easy to stay there. The obvious title challenge here is Suarez, who just competed for the belt in February, but against former champion Zhang Weili.
Wild card: Zhang Weili
If Zhang comes up short in her bid to capture a second title at UFC 322 next month, one could easily see her going back to 115 pounds and immediately challenging for the belt. Zhang faces Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight title Nov. 15 in New York. If Zhang loses and opts to go back to strawweight, this would probably be the best fight to make, although the UFC could elect to do Dern vs. Suarez and have Zhang face the winner.
Umar Nurmagomedov, men's bantamweight
Who should be next: Winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan on Dec. 6
Under normal circumstances, I doubt I would be suggesting a title fight rematch so quickly. But these are not normal circumstances, thanks to the enigma that is Dvalishvili. Dvalishvili has already defended his title twice since beating Nurmagomedov 10 months ago, and if he defeats Yan at UFC 323, he'll become first in UFC history to win four title fights in a single calendar year. With a champion as active as that, why wouldn't Nurmagomedov be next up? The champ needs as many challengers as he can get. If Yan wins, it's a fresh matchup -- a very good fresh matchup at that. Again, in a different world, I would say there's no way Dvalishvili should potentially have to turn around and fight Nurmagomedov again so soon, but that's what he wants to do. I'd watch it again, no question.
Wild card: Sean O'Malley
There are rumors that O'Malley already has a fight lined up in January. Whatever the case, if O'Malley fights in January, if he wins, loses -- regardless of any of those details, this is a solid matchup. A tough one, of course, for O'Malley, but he and Nurmagomedov are right next to each other in the rankings, and when O'Malley was the champ, he openly liked the idea of fighting Nurmagomedov, and everything associated with the "Nurmagomedov" family name. I doubt we end up seeing this next for Nurmagomedov, but in the absence of a title fight, it's a good option.
Azamat Murzakanov, light heavyweight
Who should be next: Winner of Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov on Dec. 6
There's not much left for Murzakanov to prove after this one. At least not when it comes to defining himself as a real player for the championship. He's undefeated, but that undefeated record didn't mean a whole lot until this one, as he defeated a very real, proven talent in Aleksandar Rakic. Yes, Rakic had lost his past three fights coming into UFC 321, but he lost to three former and current champions in Magomed Ankalaev, Jiří Procházka and Blachowicz. Rakic was hungry for this one, and Murzakanov put him away within a round. I view that as a serious win. Blachowicz and Guskov is a great matchup to get the division moving. Blachowicz is ranked No. 4 by the UFC, despite the fact he hasn't won in more than three years. If Blachowicz proves he's still elite against the No. 11-ranked Guskov, great. Have him fight Murzakanov next. And if Guskov elevates himself into the top five, a matchup against Murzakanov is very appropriate.
Wild card: Magomed Ankalaev
Ankalaev is looking at the unenviable task of winning at least once, probably twice, to get back to a title fight. Ankalaev would be a big jump up in competition for Murzakanov, but I don't see any reason to slow play him. Ankalaev doesn't have an obvious next opponent, so I could actually see this one being the more likely next fight for Murzakanov, even if I slightly prefer the Blachowicz/Guskov scenario.
