What’s next for Holly Holm and Irene Aldana after UFC Fight Island 4?

In the main event of UFC Fight Island 4, Holly Holm was looking to prove she is still the number one contender while Irene Aldana was looking to earn a title shot with a win.

It was the first time Aldana was headlining a show and in the lead-up to the fight, it was a pick’em for a reason. There were paths to victory for both, yet it was Holm who dominated the fight from start to finish to earn a clear decision win.

Now, following the event, here is what I think should be next for Holly Holm and Irene Aldana.

Holly Holm

Holly Holm has made it clear she wants to retire with UFC gold. She had the chance to reclaim her belt last July but suffered a knockout loss to Amanda Nunes. Since then, she has rallied off back-to-back wins over Raquel Pennington and Aldana and put her into title contention.

With Nunes set to defend her featherweight title in December, there is really only one fight that makes sense and that is the rematch with Germaine de Randamie. The two fought for the featherweight belt back in 2017 with GDR winning a decision.

With both Holm and de Randamie being the top contenders and both having fought Nunes last year it makes sense for them to fight each other with the winner earning the rematch against the double-champ.

Irene Aldana

After Irene Aldana knocked out Ketlen Vieira last year many called for the Mexican to get a shot at the belt. Yet, that never came to fruition, and she will now have to work her way back up to the top.

Aldana is still a top-10 fighter at 135-pounds and there are a couple of options for her. A logical next fight is to take on eighth-ranked Yana Kunitskaya. The Russian is coming off a win over Julija Stoliarenko. The winner could fight in a number one contender fight while the loser would have to take a big step back in the bantamweight division.

What do you think should be next for Holly Holm and Irene Aldana?