3 biggest storylines ahead of UFC 321

UFC 321 is upon us.

In Saturday's main event, Tom Aspinall defends the heavyweight title for the first time against Ciryl Gane. In the co-headliner, Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern vie for the vacant strawweight belt.

Here are three key storylines ahead of the UFC's return to Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Is there more pressure on Aspinall or Gane?

The narrative going into UFC 321 is that there's a ton of pressure on Aspinall, which is fair. After all, this is the guy who spent the better part of two years calling out Jon Jones and accusing the all-time great of ducking him, only to finally be promoted to heavyweight champion earlier this year when Jones retired. Aspinall finally has a chance to begin his own run as the baddest man on the planet - and back up everything he said about Jones - with a big win over Gane. Wouldn't it be a bit ironic - and soul-crushing - if he goes out there and gets starched in two minutes?

That said, there might be even more pressure on Gane. The 35-year-old Frenchman has challenged for the undisputed title twice before, losing to Jones and Francis Ngannou in lopsided fashion. This could very well be his final opportunity to win gold in the Octagon, especially considering his most recent win - a split decision over Alexander Volkov last December - was highly, highly controversial.

Even if Aspinall loses this weekend, he has time to work his way back into the title picture. Gane may not have that same luxury.

What will the strawweight division look like without Zhang Weili?

We're entering a new era in the UFC strawweight division.

With Zhang Weili set to vacate the title and move up to flyweight for a superfight against Valentina Shevchenko, the promotion will crown a new champion: either Jandiroba or Dern.

It's been a while since the strawweight title didn't go through Handan, China. Zhang reclaimed the title in 2022 and rattled off three defenses, cementing herself as one of the most dominant champions in the promotion. The rest of the division has kind of felt like an afterthought, so it might seem empty without Zhang around. And neither Jandiroba nor Dern will find it easy to convince MMA fans that they're suddenly the best in the world at 115 pounds.

That said, this isn't the first time this has happened nor will it be the last. It's becoming more and more common for fighters to vacate their titles - especially if they are going after a second one - so we will have to get used to it. Plus, Jandiroba and Dern have both earned this opportunity. Jandiroba is on the best streak of her career, having beaten former title challengers Yan Xiaonan and Amanda Lemos in her two most recent fights. Dern has won two in a row, including a main-event victory over Amanda Ribas, and even holds a win over Jandiroba from way back in 2020.

The strawweight division won't be the same without Zhang, but sometimes, a little refresh can be a good thing. And hey, Zhang can always come back if flyweight doesn't work out.

Is Nurmagomedov fighting for another title shot?

Umar Nurmagomedov is back for the first time since challenging Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in January. The bout resulted in his first career loss, so, in that sense, it was a disappointment. But Nurmagomedov put on the kind of performance that made it really, really seem like he's the clear-cut No. 2 in the division - and that he'd be seeing Dvalishvili again someday.

That someday could come quickly if Nurmagomedov gets past Mario Bautista on Saturday.

With Dvalishvili doing everything humanly possible to clean out the 135-pound division in record speed, he's already having to resort to rematches. He's scheduled to face Petr Yan at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas, where he'll become the first champion to defend his title four times in a calendar year. After that, there aren't many options. Sean O'Malley and Cory Sandhagen already got their chance. Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Aiemann Zahabi all likely need at least one more win. This leaves Nurmagomedov as the most likely candidate.

If Nurmagomedov beats Bautista and Dvalishvili retains his title against Yan, nothing will make more sense than a rematch between those two.