Irene Aldana put on a valiant effort in her first-ever title fight against Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 but ultimately came up short. Aldana lost by unanimous decision, but she showed that she belongs at the top of the bantamweight division.

Aldana took this fight against the best female athlete in all of the combat sports in just two short weeks. Unfortunately, it just wasn't her night and Nunes looked every part of the greatest female champion the UFC has ever and will ever see. Subsequently, Nunes rode off into the sunset and retired after yet another dominant title defense.

Now the question asks what is next for the No. 5 ranked bantamweight contender Irene Aldana. We take a look at what could potentially be next for Irene Aldana as she tries to climb the rankings again for another bantamweight title shot.

Pannie Kianzad

Irene Aldana is going to need to fight lower-ranked competition before she can move forward and take on the top-5 who she has already fought everyone besides Julianna Pena. The No. 7 ranked Pannie Kianzad is currently scheduled to fight No. 4 ranked Ketlen Vieira and win or lose, a fight with Aldana afterward can certainly put her right into title contention.

Meanwhile, Aldana will need to face some new blood in the bantamweight division before she can think about potentially fighting for the title again. No one knows what direction the UFC is going to go after the title is now vacant but if Aldana can string together a couple of big wins she can put herself back into the title picture.

Norma Dumont

Norma Dumont currently isn't in the bantamweight rankings as most of her time has been spent in the women's featherweight division. Now that the featherweight division is done with Amanda Nunes retiring, Dumont will need to drop down to bantamweight if she wants to keep her UFC roster spot.

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Once she makes that drop down in weight a fight against Aldana someone who is in the top-5 makes a ton of sense. Dumont has strung together a 5-1 record over her last six fights and a win over someone like Aldana can put her right into title contention. Dumont is already scheduled to fight Chelsea Chandler at featherweight next month but it remains to be seen what will be next after that.

Karol Rosa

Both Karol Rosa and Irene Aldana are coming off losses which would make it a prime matchup for one of them to get back on track. Rosa would be searching for the first signature win of her UFC career as she is 5-2 but doesn't have a top-ranked win just yet. She also has a style of fighting that will make for a fun and competitive fight between two elite strikers.

Aldana's tentativeness will not show in a fight against Rosa, and she will get back to her old self which is standing in there and trading in the pocket with another worthy adversary in Karol Rosa.

It remains to be seen what is next for the former title challenger but we can expect her to look like a better version of herself in the next one. She has a great team behind her at Lobo Gym in Mexico and progress should be made and will be shown her next time out.