What’s next for Mario Bautista after UFC 321?

This past Saturday on the main card of UFC 321, we saw a potential title eliminator in the bantamweight division. Former title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov (19-1) was looking to bounce back after losing in his last fight as he took on Mario Bautista (16-3) who was looking to continue his eight-fight win streak.

Admittedly, I was struggling to see a path to victory for Mario Bautista entering the fight on Saturday. On paper, Nurmagomedov had the advantage pretty much wherever the fight went and the oddsmakers agreed making Nurmagomedov the biggest betting favorite on the main card by a lot.

That said, Mario Bautista was game on Saturday. In the first round, he definitely struggled with the superior grappling of Nurmagomedov, but he never stopped fighting and forcing scrambles. Nurmagomedov even got caught in a brief toe hold that looked tight by Bautista.

In the second round, Bautista really got everyone’s attention when he briefly dropped Nurmagomedov with perfect knee. Nurmagomedov recovered insanely quickly and went on to control the round. Bautista never stopped fighting and he never quit, but he just couldn’t get it going against Umar Nurmagomedov and lost a decision at UFC 321.

What’s next after UFC 321?

As mentioned, Bautista entered the bout having won eight fights in a row. If you ask me, Mario Bautista showed me more in his loss at UFC 321 than he did in any of the wins during that win streak. Now, what’s next after this loss on Saturday?

I don’t think Bautista losing any ground in the division considering he fought the number one contender and came up short while being ranked eighth.

In terms of his next fight, one thing I’m watching for is the Payton Talbott – Henry Cejudo fight in December. Cejudo is currently ranked tenth while Talbott is unranked. Cejudo has hinted at retirement but I think whoever wins that fight would be perfect for Mario Bautista.

Another name to watch would be someone like Vinicius Oliveira. Oliveira really wanted to fight Aiemann Zahabi to get revenge for Jose Aldo. However, if Zahabi isn’t an option, Oliveira could exercise his desire to avenge Aldo against another man with a recent win over him in Mario Bautista.