With the action now wrapped up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we have the time to catch our breaths after an enthralling UFC 301.

At the top of the billing, Alexandre Pantoja defended his Flyweight title by the barest of margins against Steve Erceg. The Aussie challenger came on strong in the championship rounds, utilising counter elbows to bloody Pantoja’s face, but it would be a hometown nod for the Brazilian on the scorecards.

The most intriguing stories from Saturday night came from lower down the card, however. Without further ado, let’s get into the meat and potatoes of it.

If you want to catch up with the key stories after every UFC event, please click here for more Morning After the Fight Before.

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Should Michel Pereira’s win have been overturned to a no contest?

There is no denying the ice-cold manner in which Michel Pereira defeated opponent Ihor Potieira.

After dropping the Ukrainian with a straight shot, Pereira pounced into guard via his trademark backflip. Following up with a series of hammer fists, Pereira would then sub Potieria in a standing guillotine choke. As the Brazilian sprinted to climb the cage and soak in the crowd’s adoration, Potieria, out cold on his feet, would crash down to his back in a violent manner.

So far, so good.

Unfortunately for Pereira, upon review of the immediate replay, it revealed that his acrobatics had resulted in his knee landing on Potieria’s chin and shoulder.

According to the Brazilian MMA commission (CABMMA), the athletic commission overseeing UFC 301, such a manoeuvre is considered illegal and should have resulted in a penalty.

In 2017, CABMMA approved the Unified Rules of MMA. As part of these rules, knees to the head of a downed opponent are considered a foul.

“The following acts constitute fouls in a contest or exhibition of mixed martial arts and may result in penalties, at the discretion of the referee, if committed:

– Kneeing and/or kicking the head of a grounded opponent”

It is worth noting that the assessment of a ‘foul’ comes under the jurisdiction of the referee.

“3) Only a referee can assess a foul. If the referee does not call the foul, judges must not make that assessment on their own and should not factor such into their scoring calculations.”

Irrespective of the gray area over Pereira’s win, it marks high time that the UFC remove the rule to embrace a more dynamic ground game. Not that poor old Potieira will be comforted by any such developments.

Can Jose Aldo claw his way back to the title?

A huge amount of credit must be handed to Jose Aldo in his successful return to the octagon. While Jonathan Martinez isn’t the biggest name at Bantamweight, he still represents a game challenger on a red-hot six-fight streak – the King of Rio doesn’t accept no lay-ups.

Yet throughout the three round contest, it was difficult to shake the gut-wrenching feeling that Aldo’s return has the potential to be a train wreck in slow motion.

The former WEC and UFC Featherweight champion drips class in the cage. He is an astute kickboxer, creatively shrouding his firepower with a litany of feints, in addition to his many tools on the ground.

It is undeniable, however, that the 37-year-old has physically declined after his two years out from the UFC. This is a further athletic regression to the slide witnessed against Petr Yan back in 2020.

For all the joy there was in seeing Aldo honoured like a king in his backyard on Saturday, we must remember that the UFC matchmakers don’t spin fairy tales for a living. One big shot from a true Bantamweight contender and we could have a sad end to a legend’s career.

UFC 301 Pintsized Awards