UFC 301: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg: Full Results
UFC 301 just wrapped up. The event took place on May 4 at the Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It marked the UFC's first visit to the city since Jamahal Hill and Glover Teixeira's gritty battle in January 2023.
Despite the perceived lack of star power, UFC 301 produced some great performances. So, let's recap the event and take a closer look at the full results.
In the main event, UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja attempted the second defense of his title against Australia's Steve Erceg. Pantoja has emerged as one of the most skilled and gritty fighters on the UFC roster and holds wins over three of the top five fighters in his division.
Meanwhile, Erceg, who scored an impressive knockout win over Matt Schnell to earn the title shot, is the former Eternal MMA flyweight champion.
Pantoja avoided engaging in a head-on collision with Erceg and kept his focus on chopping his opponent's lead leg, presumably to limit his movement and take the steam off his punches.
While the champion did enjoy a degree of success on the ground, he mostly struggled to get into the comfortable range due to the Australian's intercepting counters. The challenger's strikes seemed to be finding a home with increasing accuracy as the rounds progressed, while Pantoja also launched meaningful offense despite the apparent struggle to close the distance.
It appeared that Round 5 would determine the outcome as the fight was hard to score. While Erceg did well in the first half of the round, an ill-advised takedown attempt helped Pantoja get on top and finish the fight in a dominant position.
The close contest ended in Pantoja earning a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Erceg to remain the UFC flyweight champion.
The co-main event saw former WEC and UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo coming out of retirement against the No.12-ranked Jonathan Martinez. Aldo moved down to bantamweight in the twilight of his career and initially retired from competition after the unanimous decision loss against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278.
Martinez, who was riding a six-fight win streak heading into the fight, maintained a cautious approach from the opening bell. Aldo maintained a constant lead over Martinez, who offered good resistance.
The veteran fighter stung 'The Dragon' with multiple shots throughout the fight and came dangerously close to getting a finish in Round 3. To cap a dominant performance, Aldo slammed Martinez to the ground and maintained top position until the final bell, ensuring a unanimous decision win.
This was Aldo's first win in Rio de Janeiro since he defeated Chad Mendes in the historic UFC 179 clash in 2014.
Undefeated light heavyweight contender Vitor Petrino challenged veteran fighter and former title challenger Anthony Smith in an attempt to score the biggest win of his professional MMA career.
A win over Smith, who was the No.10-ranked light heavyweight contender heading into the fight, would have propelled Petrino into the top 15. Both fighters came out aggressively but respected each other's power.
After a few exchanges on the feet, Petrino shot a double-leg takedown. Smith quickly responded with a guillotine choke and trapped his opponent completely by the time they hit the canvas. Petrino frantically tried to escape but tapped out after a few seconds.
The referee, who missed the first tapout, stopped the fight after Petrino tapped the second time.
Michel Pereira, who moved up to middleweight in 2023, fought Ukraine's Ihor Potieiria on the main card in an attempt to extend his win streak to eight. Meanwhile, Potieria, who has struggled to put a win streak together since arriving in the UFC in 2022, stepped up to fight the 30-year-old Brazilian after his original opponent, Makhmud Muradov was forced to pull out.
Pereira knocked Potieria down with a powerful right hand a few seconds into the fight and followed up with a backflip to land on top of his downed opponent. The Brazilian locked a guillotine while Potieria was standing back up.
The Ukrainian urgently tapped out while standing as the grip got tighter and went crashing to the mat as soon as Pereira released his neck.
UFC 301 results: Caio Borralho, Joanderson Brito walk away with impressive finishes
In the main card opening bout, submission artist Paul Craig went up against Caio Borralho in the middleweight division. Borralho went into the fight with a perfect 5-0 record under the promotion's umbrella.
While Craig has been praised for improved striking skills in recent times, the Brazilian got the better of him in most exchanges and thwarted several attempts to pull guard.
In Round 2, Borralho caught Craig with a vicious straight left but refused to follow up and engage with the lethal grappler on the ground. Craig still appeared to be struggling to recover after getting back up as the Brazilian chased him around the octagon. A huge right hand from Borallho knocked Craig out and the referee waved off the fight as soon as the 36-year-old hit the canvas.
In the headlining fight on the preliminary card, featherweight contenders Jack Shore and Joanderson Brito gave their best to score a victory. Brito invested heavily in leg kicks from the get-go and managed to limit Shore's movement to a significant extent.
A kick from Brito in Round 2 opened a cut on Shore's shin as his leg was already battered with repeated leg-kicking attacks. The referee stopped the action for the cage-side doctor to take a look at Shore's injury. Upon examination, the doctor ruled Shore unable to fight and Brito was declared the winner by TKO.
Elsewhere on the preliminary card, Elves Brener vs. Myktybek Orolbai and Drakkar Klose vs. Joaquim Silva proved to be back-and-forth battles that Orolbai and Klose won by unanimous decision.
In the early prelims, Mauricio Ruffy and Alessandro Costa knocked out Jamie Mullarkey and Kevin Borgas, respectively.
Check out the full event results below:
Main Card
Flyweight - Alexandre Pantoja def. Steve Erceg via unanimous decision (48-47 X 2, 49-46)
Bantamweight - Jose Aldo def. Jonathan Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)
Light heavyweight - Anthony Smith def. Vitor Petrino via submission (Guillotine choke) (R1, 2:00)
Middleweight - Michel Pereira def. Ihor Potieria via submission (Guillotine choke) (R1, 0:54)
Middleweight - Caio Borralho def. Paul Craig via T/KO (R2, 2:10)
Preliminary Card
Featherweight - Joanderson Brito def. Jack shore via T/KO, doctor's stoppage (R2, 3:35)
Women's strawweight - Iasmin Lucindo def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)
Lightweight - Myktybek Orolbai def. Elves Brener via unanimous decision (29-27 X 3) (a-point deduction from Orolbai's scorecards for grabbing the fence)
Lightweight - Drakkar Klose def. Joaquim Silva via unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)
Early Prelims
Lightweight - Mauricio Ruffy def. Jamie Mullarkey via T/KO (R1, 4:42)
Women's flyweight - Dione Barbosa def. Ernesta Kareckaite via unanimous decision (29-28)
Lightweight - Ismael Bonfim def. Vinc Pichel via unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)
Flyweight - Alessandro Costa def. Kevin Borjas via T/KO (R2, 1:35)