UFC 321 went down yesterday (Sat., Oct. 25, 2025) on “Fight Island” from inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which saw the Heavyweight main event title fight end in round one after Ciryl Gane poked Tom Aspinall “knuckle deep” in both eyes, forcing the referee to rule the fight a dreaded “No Contest,” much to the chagrin of everyone (see it again here). In the co-main event, Mackenzie Dern, fulfilled her championship dreams, defeating Virna Jandiroba to become the new women’s Strawweight champion of the world, while Umar Nurmagomedov defeated Mario Bautista to inject himself right back in the championship mix.

Since we already know an immediate “pain in the ass” rematch between Aspinall vs. Gane will likely take place here soon, let’s take a look to see what could be next for all of the main card winners:

Winner: Mackenzie Dern
Who She Should Face Next: Loopy Godinez

While Godinez might seem like an odd choice for Dern’s first title defense, it may be the only one that logically makes sense. Godinez is currently ranked No. 6 in the division and is on a two-fight win streak. Everyone else seeded in front of her is coming off a loss, so it doesn’t make too much sense to award them a fight. Dern defeated Godinez back in Aug. 2024, creating an opportunity for the Mexican-born fighter to score some revenge (and earn her first-ever world title in the process). Unless, of course, former division queenpin, Zhang Weili, opts to return to the division following her Flyweight title fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 (it’s expected).

Winner: Umar Nurmagomedov
Who He Should Face Next: Sean O’ Malley

Nurmagomedov shutout Bautista to get himself back on track and into the championship conversation. At the moment, Merab Dvalishvili is set to defend his belt against Petr Yan at UFC 323 to close out 2025, so it makes sense to book Nurmagomedov — who is ranked No. 2 — up against O’ Malley — who is ranked No. 1. “Suga” desperately wants another crack at winning the strap, but he has two straight losses to “The Machine.” If he can get a win over Nurmagomedov it would be a nice statement to prove his worth of getting back into a world title fight. And the same goes for Nurmagomedov.

Winner: Alexander Volkov
Who He Should Face Next: Curtis Blaydes rematch

Volkov won a lackluster split-decision over Jailton Almeida to put him back into the win column following his mist recent defeat at the hands of Ciryl Gane. I’m not sure a lot of people realize that Volkov is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the division, so he is getting close to a shot at the title. The win over Almeida isn’t going to get him there, so I wouldn’t mind seeing him face off against Blaydes in what would be a rematch five years in the making. The two men initially threw down in 2020, with “Razor” getting a unanimous decision win over the towering Russian. If Volkov can get his revenge, then he could very well punch his ticket to the big dance.

Winner: Azamat Murzakanov
Who He Should Face Next: Carlos Ulberg

Murzakanov secured his sixth straight win inside the Octagon after defeating Aleksandar Rakic via first-round technical knockout (TKO) to improve his record to 16-0, 6-0 overall (see it again here). After the fight, he called for a No. 1 contender fight, and it’s not a bad idea. As it stands, Ulberg should be the top option to face Alex Pereira next. While Jiri Prochazka is chomping at the bit to get that fight for a third time, it’s simply not in the cards. Furthermore, Jon Jones recently accepted Pereira’s callout for a fight at the White House, and if both parties want it to go down it will, and it will make history on all fronts. Since that fight isn’t possible until the middle of 2026, it makes no sense to keep Ulberg and Murzakanov on ice. Let’s book them against one another and Jiri can face off against Magomed Ankalaev.