May 10th, 2020 Olympic gold medalist and 2x UFC titleholder Henry Cejudo retired from the fight game as Bantamweight Champion. Now, we have a vacant title. The solution for the UFC will be a championship fight between Petr Yan and Jose Aldo, no date has been set. Because of the influx of talent showcased from the bantamweights at UFC 250, we need to breakdown the top title-contending prospects:
#2 ranked Aljamain Sterling: The formula Aljamain is simple, beat up everybody in the division and leave the UFC executives no other choice but call his number for a Bantamweight Championship bout. With his first-round victory over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250 via rear-naked choke, the overall expectation is that his next fight with be for the UFC Championship.
#9 ranked Cody Garbrandt: After losing three-fight in a row, Garbrandt made adjustments in his training. At UFC 250, the former Bantamweight Champion silenced all naysayers by defeating the fifth ranked Bantamweight Raphael Assunção with a second-round K.O victory landing a right hook with only one second remaining in the round. Although he came into the fight ranked #9 this victory potentially catapults him somewhere around 4th or 5th ranked in the division. Theoretically placing him one or two fights away from a chance to become a repeat champion.
#3 ranked Petr Yan: Petr has an undefeated record in the UFC. His next fight will be for the vacant bantamweight title. He will take on future HOF Jose Aldo. The biggest issues fans seem to have is the lack of depth on Yan's resume, his marquee win in the UFC came against another UFC HOF Urijah Faber.
#1 ranked Marlon Moraes: With victories over Jose Aldo and Aljamain Sterling, it's confusing how he is not in the conversation for the Bantamweight Championship belt, the only knock on him is his loss to the former champion Henry Cejudo who retired in May 2020.