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Khalil Rountree may not have the credentials to match Alex Pereira when it comes to career accomplishments, but it doesn’t make him any less dangerous when they start trading bombs at UFC 307.

Ever since he first started doing MMA, Rountree’s wins were usually defined by highlight-reel knockouts, and he’s never feared trading strikes with anybody. That included his 2018 fight against Gokhan Saki, who was one of the most credentialed kickboxers to ever set foot in the UFC octagon, and Rountree needed just over 90 seconds to send him to the shadow realm.

Rountree’s longtime head coach John Wood says the vibes are feeling awfully similar ahead of a showdown against Pereira this weekend.

“When the Gokhan Saki fight happened for Khalil, he was just amped,” Wood told MMA Fighting. “There was no hesitation. Same thing with this. We’re going to take it the same way. He’s going to shock a lot of people.

“I believe Khalil can stand with anybody in the world. He’s got that level of talent when it comes to striking.”

Now just because Wood has full confidence in Rountree’s ability to end the fight with strikes, he’s not looking at Pereira as an easy opponent by any stretch of the imagination.

Since moving to light heavyweight, Pereira has gone undefeated and delivered three consecutive knockouts over two former UFC champions in Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill. Pereira is widely considered the most lethal striker in the sport, and Wood fully acknowledges that has to be respected.

“Pereira, we all know what he’s done and doing,” Wood said. “He is the legit boogeyman in the UFC right now. It’s the kind of stuff that gets me going in the morning. I love it.

“There’s no doubt Alex is the best in the world at that division. The guy is as scary as they come. He’s got the power. He’s got the death touch. He’s got everything going for him right now, the hype, it’s not an easy task. I have a lot of respect for the guy for what he does. But with that being said, he’s never fought somebody like Khalil.”

When it comes to the potential exchanges on the feet, Wood believes there are absolutely areas where Rountree can put a hurting on Pereira where other opponents have failed.

“[Alex Pereira has] never fought somebody who has the power, the speed, the vision, the timing that Khalil has,” Wood said. “Khalil — I’m not going to say he’s better than Alex but he’s better at certain things.

“Alex is really good at doing what he does and it doesn’t always look pretty. As a coach, you could easily get caught up and say all of his stuff is technically wrong. He does that at the highest level. He does a lot of his shit to bring you in, to draw you in to think you can get there and then knocks you out. Khalil can do all that, just a lot sharper.”

Because so much attention has been paid to the striking exchanges, Wood quickly points out that it’s an MMA fight and anything can happen. That means the team at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas is getting Rountree ready for everything — including a possible takedown attempt from Pereira.

“Try to take him down,” Wood said. “It’s going to be tough and you’re probably going to get clipped doing it. We’re ready for all facets. I talked to him today [and told him] you might clip Alex and he might want to turn this into a wrestling match. We’re going to be ready for everything.”

No matter how it plays out, Wood doesn’t see any world where Rountree and Pereira go for the full five rounds. The high chances that this fight ends in violent fashion had to at least play some part in the UFC’s matchmaking.

Wood wouldn’t offer an exact prediction but he expects Rountree to win and put Pereira away to do it.

“I will not be surprised at all when this fight ends early and Khalil has that belt wrapped around his waist,” Wood said. “If you know and people that have followed, Khalil is another one of those guys really coming into his MMA game, really coming into his own as a fighter the last couple of fights. I do not see this fight going five rounds. There’s no humanly possible way that happens and I do not see Khalil losing.

“I think somebody is going out and I don’t think it’s going to be us and that’s with all due respect to Pereira and his team. He’s got a legendary coach. He’s a legend in his own right. It’s an honor to coach against these guys. Obviously, I’ve got a live dog in this fight and I think that we’re going to get it. There’s no doubt in my mind that Khalil leaves that cage with the belt.”

Of course, Rountree has dealt with some criticism that he didn’t earn this opportunity and there were more deserving contenders out there. He’s largely brushed that off and stayed focused on the task at hand, which is beating Pereira on Saturday.

His coach said much the same but promised if there’s any question about whether or not Rountree belongs in the same cage as Pereira, he’ll give an emphatic answer on Saturday.

“I think you’re going to see the best Khalil Rountree that you’ve ever seen,” Wood said. “That is a scary, scary man.”

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MMA Fighting has a live stream watch party for Saturday’s UFC 307 event, which takes place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the main event, Alex Pereira puts the UFC light heavyweight title for the third time this year against Khalil Rountree.

Join MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and other special guests to watch along with UFC 307 as the main card happens.

In the co-main event, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington puts her belt on the line for the first time against former champ, and fellow cast member from season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter Julianna Peña.

UFC 307 also includes a bantamweight tilt between former featherweight champion José Aldo and Mario Bautista, along with a middleweight bout between Roman Dolidze and Kevin Holland.

Kayla Harrison looks to punch her ticket to a women’s 135-pound title shot when she faces Ketlen Vieira in the main card opener.

Watch MMA Fighting’s UFC 307 Watch Party beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET / 6:45 p.m. PT.

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Chris Curtis is set for a 2025 return to the UFC octagon.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotions plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Curtis will face Roman Kopylov in a middleweight bout at the UFC’s Fight Night event on Jan. 11 at a location and venue yet to be announced.

Curtis is set to make his 10th promotional appearance and looks to bounce back in the win column following a split decision loss in a Fight of the Year contender against Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 90 in April. “The Action Man” returns to action after suffering a torn hamstring in the fight, and was slated to face Kevin Holland on Saturday’s UFC 307 card before being forced to withdraw.

After having his four-fight win streak snapped by Anthony Hernandez at UFC 298 in February, Kopylov returned to the win column three months later with a split decision win against Cesar Almeida at UFC 301. During his previous winning streak, Kopylov finished all four of his opponents.

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Think you can figure out which UFC fighter we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out.

We’re back for another day of the SB Nation UFC in-5 daily trivia game, and we’re switching to a system of a new article each day for the game.

We tried using a single article for the game, updated with the latest game each day, but it was creating a bit of an unwieldy experience in the comments. So, we’ll have the current day’s game plus the previous three days in each new article. That way, you can catch up if you miss a day.

Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game!

What we need from you

1. Play the game
2. Share your result in the comments and on social media
3. Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below)

Today’s UFC in-5 game

Friday’s UFC in-5 game

Thursday’s UFC in-5 game

Wednesday’s UFC in-5 game

The goal of the game is to guess the correct random UFC fighter player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED FIGHTERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the MMA Fighting layout each morning, with occasional movement later in the day.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media.

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It was unavoidable that Kayla Harrison would receive comparisons to Ronda Rousey when she first made her transition into MMA.

Both came from judo backgrounds with Rousey becoming the first woman from the United States to capture a medal at the Olympics only to be outdone by Harrison, who ended up with a pair of gold medals in back-to-back games. While Rousey’s contributions to the sport are almost immeasurable, especially given the fact that she played a part in Dana White actually bringing women to the UFC, Harrison may eventually surpass her again.

That’s according to Harrison’s longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz, who has been with her since before she was even fighting and now she stands on the precipice of potentially fighting for gold again if she gets through Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307.

“This is no disrespect to Ronda, she’s great, she opened the door for all of the women but Kayla, all the time, did things much better than her,” Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “[Ronda] won a bronze medal. Kayla won two gold medals. The way Kayla is going to beat people, I don’t think Ronda was ever going to beat people the way Kayla is going to do it.

“I’m talking about dominance. She doesn’t say much but she does a lot of damage. She inflicts a lot of pain.”

In her octagon debut, Harrison ran roughshod over former champion Holly Holm, submitting her with a rear-naked choke in the second round at UFC 300. Holm was the fighter that famously dethroned Rousey back in 2015 when Rousey was on top of the world and seemingly unbeatable.

Comparisons aside, Harrison is forging her own path in the UFC after she grew up competing in the PFL and through one fight thus far, her style has certainly translated between promotions.

Having witnessed other fighters on his roster like UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov and current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev dominate the competition, Abdelaziz believes that Harrison can do the same now that she’s in the UFC.

“She smothers people, she punishes them,” Abdelaziz said. “She creates a lot of damage, creates a lot of chaos and it’s exciting at the same time. Khabib was always exciting. Kayla is always exciting. Kayla has never been in a boring fight. That’s what Kayla does. She’s a world class athlete. She’s an A-plus, two-time Olympic champion and the way she dominates people, she makes you be like, ‘Why am I doing this?’

“She makes people rethink their careers. Anybody Kayla is going to fight, they are going to rethink their career. It doesn’t matter who. No disrespect to nobody. She’s the best. She’s the most dominant and Saturday night you’re going to see one more time why I keep saying that for the last 10 years.”

If Harrison gets through Vieira on Saturday, all signs point towards her getting a shot at the title against the winner of the UFC 307 main event between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña.

There’s a world where Harrison could have just slipped right into a title fight after her win against Holm in April but Abdelaziz understands why the UFC went in a different direction.

“It was talked [about Kayla getting a title shot] but I think the UFC previously they promised Julianna they would give her a title shot,” Abdelaziz revealed. “It was kind of promised and these guys, you like it or not, they give you their word, they always keep it. I respect their opinion. It’s OK. If Kayla believes she’s the best in the world, she has to smash everybody. I believe she is the best in the world. I believe Ketlen Vieira is a great fighter, a great test for Kayla. I think Saturday night, Kayla’s going to show why she’s the best female fighter on the planet in any division.

“[Kayla is next for the title], this is what [the UFC] said but in reality [crazy things] happen in the sport. Kayla needs to do what she has to do on Saturday night and I think 99.9 percent she is next. Undoubtedly, nobody can tell her she’s not.”

Whether it’s Pennington or Pena, none of that seems to matter much to Harrison and the same goes for her manager. No matter what he expects Harrison to have a title around her waist soon enough.

“If the champ wants to retire [rather than fight her], I understand,” Abdelaziz said. “I don’t want to fight Kayla, too.”

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The UFC returns to pay-per-view this Saturday for UFC 307, and Alex Pereira will put his UFC light heavyweight title on the line against Khalil Rountree in the main event. If Pereira is to pick up his third win of the year, what does it do for his legacy?

Ahead of Saturday’s pay-per-view card, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew preview the event, the headliner between Pereira and Rountree, and what is at stake for both men. Additionally, they’ll discuss the co-main event between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Pena for the women’s bantamweight title, Pena getting the shot over Kayla Harrison, José Aldo’s return to action, Harrison making her second octagon appearance, this time against Ketlen Vieira, the low-key storylines, and much more.

Catch the UFC 307 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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MMA Fighting has UFC 307 results for the Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. fight card, live blogs of the main card, and more from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday night.

In the main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira puts his belt on the line against Khalil Rountree Jr. Pereira, who has won four fights in a row, makes his third title defense. Rountree Jr. has won five straight fights.

UFC bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington puts her belt on the line against former UFC champion Julianna Peña in the co-main event.

Check out UFC 307 results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET)

Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Peña

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista

Roman Dolidze vs. Kevin Holland

Ketlen Vieira vs. Kayla Harrison

Preliminary Card (ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Stephen Thompson vs. Joaquin Buckley

Marina Rodriguez vs. Iasmin Lucindo

Cesar Almeida vs. Ihor Potieria

Austin Hubbard vs. Alexander Hernandez

Early Prelims (ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Ryan Spann vs. Ovince Saint Preux

Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Pennington

Court McGee vs. Tim Means

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Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes are confident that fellow Brazilian star Alex Pereira leaves Salt Lake City as UFC light heavyweight champion at UFC 307, but disagree about his future with the company.

Oliveira, a former UFC lightweight champion, likes “Poatan” going back to middleweight or pursuing a historic feat, while Lopes approves a heavyweight showdown against the man currently holding interim gold, Tom Aspinall.

“A fight that would be really interesting for everybody would be against Aspinall because that way [Pereira] wouldn’t have to stress his body going down as much in weight for 185,” Lopes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “He would be fighting at his natural weight, basically, with no weight cut. I think the Aspinall fight would interest people the most.”

“I think it would be insane to win three belts,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “‘Poatan’ is a big guy so he would be gigantic [at heavyweight], too. I guess he has to think what’s best for him. Can he make weight [at 185] and feel good going back down again? That would be good for him, and I think he would definitely wins [against Dricus Du Plessis]. If he goes up that would be great, because then he would have three belts, but whatever his team decides, his coach Plinio [Cruz] is good.”

Pereira enters his third defense of the UFC light heavyweight belt in 2024 against Rountree after knocking out Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka with ease at UFC 300 and UFC 303 respectively. The decision to award Rountree a shot at UFC gold was a surprise to many, including Oliveira, but Lopes believes that makes him a dangerous opponent.

“It’s a very interesting fight,” Lopes said. “It’s something that has happened quite often in the UFC lately, someone down the rankings fighting for the belt — or facing a top-ranked fighter. And you know, when people from the bottom get an opportunity like that, they come in hungry. I think that’s how Khalil comes in this fight. But ‘Poatan’ has looked unstoppable, right? It’s going to be an interesting fight because it’s 100 percent striking. Khalil has never shot for a takedown in his career, and ‘Poatan’ has takedowns although he’s a natural striker. It’s a very interesting fight, and I think ‘Poatan’ wins.”

Oliveira was “very surprised” by the match-up, and sees Rountree as “a dangerous guy with great power in his hand” against the former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion.

“Not taking away anything from anyone or thinking ‘Poatan’ is a superhero,” Oliveira said. “But I think ‘Poatan’ has a good chance knocking out any striker that fights him. He’s just too calm, too precise, too relaxed, to hit at the right time. I think that’s another person he will knock out to defend this belt. It’s hard for any striker to knock out ‘Poatan’ because he’s too calm and relaxed. He waits for the right moment to attack — and when he connects, his hands hit hard.”

As Pereira prepares to face Rountree at UFC 307, Lopes will serve as the backup fighter at the following pay-per-view later this month, ready to step in as a replacement for champion Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway at UFC 307 on Oct. 25. Meanwhile, “Do Bronx” Oliveira gears up in camp for a UFC 309 rematch with Michael Chandler, scheduled for Nov. 16 in New York.

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Iasmin Lucindo has the chance break Jon Jones’ record as the youngest UFC champion in history, but she’s not treating that as a career goal.

Lucindo has won three in a row in the UFC, defeating veteran Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her most recent appearance this past May, and now faces top-ranked Marina Rodriguez at UFC 307 on Saturday night. Lucindo would need to clinch the UFC strawweight belt by Sept. 5, 2025, to break Jones’ record (23 years 242 days).

“[The title shot] might come [in 2025], but I was hurried before in my life to make things happen, so now I just want to live the moment,” Lucindo said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I want to take things slow and enjoy the moment. I’m in no rush, but I want to show my work and evolution. The more fights I have before the belt, the more experienced I will be. No rush. If it comes next year, great. If it comes in three years, it’s great as well.”

Lucindo, who turns 23 in January, started fighting professional at age 14 after taking martial arts classes to defend her mother and aunts from domestic violence. Lucindo says that breaking Jones’ record would be “awesome,” but learns from mistakes made by others who have tried that in the past and failed.

“I see the new generation on a rush to make things happen, and the more you rush things up, the longer it takes,” Lucindo said. “We have to respect the process. If it’s meant to happen, it will. I’m here. I’m respecting the process and evolving. but if it’s not meant to be, we have other records to break [laughs].”

“Also, I’m rooting for Virna to be the next champion,” she continued, referring to training partner Virna Jandiroba, who faces Tatiana Suarez at UFC 310 on Dec. 7. “We joke that I’ll get there when she retires. I hope Virna becomes champion because she deserves a lot. Before we started training together, she showed me it was possible, so I really want her to become champion.”

Lucindo sees the Rodriguez match-up as “a great opportunity” to prove herself against one of the best strikers in the division, and admits “I didn’t expect that opportunity” sitting so low in the rankings.

“I’m a striker, and every striker likes to battle, and you’re definitely getting 15 minutes of war,” Lucindo said. “I love challenges like this. Marina and I, that’s going to be a very technical fight. She will get the best out of me, because she’s a top striker. I believe I can [knock her out] but we have to be careful because we’re dealing with a striker and we don’t waste opportunities. I believe I have a good strategy to get that knockout.”

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UFC 307 takes place this Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, featuring two title fights and 10 other marquee matchups. In the main event, Alex Pereira puts his light heavyweight title on the line against Khalil Rountree Jr., and in the co-main event, women’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington makes the first defense of her belt against former champion Julianna Peña. Let dive into which bouts are worth betting on this weekend.

All odds are courtesy of our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Straight Bets

Julianna Peña (+140)

Let’s start with the downsides of this bet: Peña has not fought in two years, she hasn’t won a fight in nearly three years, and she doesn’t have any victories over fighters currently competing in the UFC. That’s not great!

However, Peña does have two very important things working in her favor. First, she’s a good grappler and wrestler. Pennington is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades but historically, one of the most successful strategies against her has been scoring takedowns, as Pennington isn’t a threat off her back.

Second, Peña is tougher than advanced algebra and has absolutely zero quit in her. If something doesn’t work, she will doggedly keep trying it until it does work. That sort of relentless effort makes her a more effective striker than she should be, and should play into her hands in the championship rounds of this fight.

Ultimately, this is a coin flip fight since Pennington is good but not incredible, and so there’s value on Peña.

Jose Aldo (+118)

Jose Aldo is one of the six greatest fighters of all time. Mario Bautista is a very good fighter, but the ocean of distance between “very good” and “Pantheon level” is vast. Even at his advanced age, Aldo is still a master and creating the fight he wants. More to the point, he’s one of my favorite fighters of all time and I’m always going to back him to win.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Prop Bets

Kayla Harrison by KO/TKO or Submission (+105)

Harrison faces Ketlen Vieira on the main card in a matchup that is more or less a setup fight to get Harrison to the bantamweight title.

Harrison is a two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka and a physical force of nature. If Vieira could keep this fight on the feet, she’d stand a chance. But she simply will not be able to do that against Harrison meaning the question is whether or not Harrison can get the finish. Vieira has proven very durable in her career but this version of Harrison is a different beast and I think she gets the statement finish.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Parlays

There’s nothing I love more than a gimmick parlay and there are two prime opportunities this week. The first is the Pennington Parlay, which I’m passing on given my support of Peña this week. The second is the Glory Parlay.

Pereira is a famously a two-division Glory Kickboxing champion, where he (less) famously had a rivalry with Cesar Almeida. Now the two men are in the UFC and train together under Glover Teixeira, and are heavy favorites at UFC 307.

Alex Pereira (-506)

As far as the actual fight goes, I wrote a big breakdown over on SB Nation, so you should check that out, but the short version is that Pereira is most likely going to clobber anyone who willingly engages in a kickboxing match with him, which is what Rountree is going to do.

Cesar Almeida (-400)

And on the prelims, that same dynamic takes places when Almeida takes on Ihor Potieria, the man who famously ended Shogun Rua’s MMA career. This is basically an off-brand version of the main event, and the outcome should be similarly expected.

Parlay these two bets together for -212 odds

Wrap Up

UFC Paris was a mixed bag. We spiked a big underdog in calling Renato Moicano’s win, but lost everything else which is obviously less than ideal. Let’s hope we do better this weekend,

Until next week, enjoy the fights, good luck, and gamble responsibly!

All information in this article is provided to readers of MMA Fighting for entertainment, news, and amusement purposes only. It is the responsibility of the reader to learn and abide by online gambling laws in their region before placing any online sports betting wagers.

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