UFC 307 was a night of juggernauts fighting for their throne at the high-altitude Salt Lake City in Utah and it was a hell of a journey. From Alex Pereira defending his title and winning once again to divisional rankers Roman Dolidze, Kayla Harrison, and Mario Bautista delivering impressive performances, the event was something every UFC buff is talking about.

However, as the drill goes for UFC- as soon as one event ends, another planning for the next fight comes up and people start speculating about the future of the contenders. This time was nothing different so let’s dive into the future of the winners of UFC 307.

Will Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira happen? Who will Poatan’s next opponent be?

Pereira’s name roared all around the arena in Bruce Buffer’s baritone voice at Delta Centre and Joe Rogan was ready to take his post-fight interview. Chama donned his belt and was prepared for the questions as the crowd cheered on. Rogan asked him if this was a tough fight and Pereira gave credit where it was due. He admitted that this was one of the most difficult fights and he was expecting it because he had seen ‘The War Horse’ fight before and saw his prowess.

Poatan’s game plan was to let Rountree Jr. tire and then defeat him. Finally, Rogan asked the question of the hour which was about his plans after this win.‘Poatan’ revealed that he was happy with this weight cut, and even though he did not mind moving up a weight class, he did not want to get in Dricus Du Plessis’s way since they are friends. However, Du Plessis is ready to change his weight class for Chama and revealed this after winning against Israel Adesanya.

During a post-fight interview, Du Plessis said, “They said Strickland I’m like great perfect. I’m 100 percent great that’s the next one. I heard Poatan made some, I don’t know. He made a tweet saying he’s back to 185lbs. I felt Izzy’s strikes, the man Is fast and has good combos but if he knocked you out cold you do not wanna get knocked…”

“You want to face my jab. You do not want to feel the jab because ultimately that won me a fight tonight. So don’t come down to 185 lbs let me handle Sean Strickland if that’s the case, or after your fight, I’ll come to 205 lbs and then make that happen. So you don’t have an excuse of too much weight cut when I knock you out,” added the fighter.

Pereira on the other hand admitted that he was physically exhausted through the training for this fight and now he would enter a well-deserved time of rest and recovery- but the show must go on. Meanwhile, it seems like the next title challenger for the Brazilian might be Magomed Ankalaev if he can get through Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308. This was confirmed by none other than the UFC head honcho. “Listen, Ankalaev’s ranked number two [so] if he goes out and puts on an unbelievable performance and Alex is still the champion, then he’s next,” Dana White told reporter Kevin Iole before UFC 307.

And this also settles the Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira matchup rumors and it might just be that the heavyweight king hangs up his gloves after his last duel against Stipe Miocic. At least that’s what Jones has led many to believe so far.

Now since we have an inkling of what to expect for Pereira, let’s move on to the other winners.

Is Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison next?

Peña and Harrison both emerged victorious in their respective bouts, but their heated exchanges during the pre-fight press conference did not go unnoticed. Nevertheless, this was almost expected of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and the title challenger, owing to their ongoing exchange of jabs.

Harrison won against  Ketlen Vieira and Peña won against Raquel Pennington. Incidentally, both fighters hardly escaped an interview without being asked about a potential fight between them. “Fill in the blank,” Harrison said about her choice of next opponents. “It doesn’t matter. It’s only a matter of time. I’m the uncrowned queen. First Saturday night, I smash Ketlen and then I come for my title. Enjoy it while you can ladies.”

However, Harrison added that she would happily drive an elbow through Peña’s head for free which naturally was not taken silently by ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’. “I know violence,”  Peña said. “Kayla just got here to the scene. As far as I’m concerned, the last time she faced a Brazilian, she came running into the UFC.”

So clearly if they do get a chance, both would seemingly be ready to settle their scores inside the octagon. We just have to wait and see if they do! Now let’s come to Jose Aldo who just had a baby with his wife and might be thinking of a major career decision.

Will Jose Aldo retire after UFC 307 defeat?

Aldo had returned to action at UFC 307, for the first time since UFC 301 where he bore a dominant decision win over Jonathan Martinez. ‘The King of Rio’ had a pretty close contested matchup with Mario Bautista who was putting on a 6 fight-winning streak till now. Aldo was able to secure some deadly punches and kicks but it was not without nonstop pressure and volume from his opponent.

However ‘Junior’ proved himself again and won the fight. Now people are asking if he will go up against Sean O’Malley next. However there is no concrete answer to this yet, so let’s wait and see!

What does the future hold for Roman Dolidze, Khalil Rountree, Kevin Holland, and others

Let’s speculate the future of other fighters who put up an amazing fight irrespective of their loss. Dolidze will probably enter the top 15 and fight for higher rankings. Anyone between #5 and #10 in rankings can be his opponent. Khalil Rountree will want to enter the top 5 rankings to earn another title fight. So, he might face Jiri Prochazka, Jamahal Hill , or Jan Blachowicz. Kevin Holland on the other hand will return after a while because of his injury, and will most probably fight to return to the top 15. 

Rountree is number 8 right now in the light heavyweight category and Jamahal Hill is ranked 3 in the same, so if he manages to fight Hill, he will get a better chance at the title shot. Meanwhile, Kevin Holland, suffered a severe Rib injury while fighting Roman Dolidze and lost the bout. So he would need recovery time to come back into the rankings.

So are you excited to see who these fighters match up with? Tell us your predictions in the comments below.