After his dominant win at UFC Vegas 113, what’s next for Mario Bautista?

This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 113, we saw a big matchup in the bantamweight division with a little heat on it. Top bantamweight contenders Mario Bautista (17-3) and Vinicius Oliveira (23-4) went head-to-head.

This is a fight that Oliveira desperately wanted after Bautista defeated Brazilian legend Jose Aldo back in 2024. Bautista was coming off a loss to Umar Nurmagomedov and Oliveira came into the fight undefeated inside the octagon.

I expected this to be a really fun fight, but it was a lot more one-sided than I expected. Oliveira was not aggressive at all which goes away from his typical style. Not sure if he was worried about his gas tank, but he just didn’t fight aggressive. Meanwhile, Bautista was sharp and he mixed things up well.

In the second round, Bautista got the fight to the ground and that’s where he shined. He got to a dominant position and he attacked an arm. When Oliveira went to defend, Bautista beautifully chained into a rear naked choke attempt and he got the quick tap from Oliveira giving him the submission win at UFC Vegas 113.

What’s next after UFC Vegas 113?

Mario Bautista really has shown that he’s one of the very best bantamweights in the world over his last few fights. When he entered 2025, he was a bit of a villain after the way he defeated Jose Aldo. However, he put on a helluva performance dominating Patchy Mix and then he pushed Umar Nurmagomedov to the limit in their fight.

In this fight, he once again showed that he has an elite skillset. So, what should the UFC do with him in his next fight? Bautista is now an impressive 9-1 in his last ten fights. Not sure if he’ll move up in the rankings, but he should. I think he deserves to move by Chito Vera to eighth in the rankings when they update tomorrow.

After his win on Saturday, Bautista said that he wanted a rematch with Cory Sandhagen after he lost to Sandhagen back in 2019. Sandhagen just fought for the title and is currently ranked fourth.

I think that’s a great option that I would love to see the UFC explore. Another fight to keep your eyes on is a potential matchup with Aiemann Zahabi who is ranked sixth and he’s won seven in a row.