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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

There’s not much left to be said about Alex Pereira except Chama!

The signature catchphrase from the light heavyweight champion seems fitting after he delivered another stunning performance in the UFC 307 main event. It was a very mature fight from Pereira, who fended off a fast start from Khalil Rountree Jr. only to pour on the punishment with each passing minute.

By the time the action moved into the fourth round, Pereira really began damaging Rountree with his punches as the challenger’s face turned into a bloody mess from several cuts. Finally, Pereira backed Rountree against the cage, uncorked two brutal body shots followed by an uppercut that dropped his opponent to the ground in a heap.

The fight was stopped at 4:32 in the fourth round with Pereira moving to 3-0 with three title defenses in 2024.

“I can say that this was one of the toughest fights,” Pereira said following his latest win. “I expected that. He showed tonight why he’s got so much quality in here.”

A battered and bloodied Rountree had nothing but respect for Pereira as he still enjoyed the moment despite coming up short in his first attempt at becoming UFC champion.

“My thought coming into this fight was just to be grateful,” Rountree said. “I was really excited to come in here and I just embraced the moments. I don’t think I was surprised at all. I thought I was going to be able to hit him a lot more. He did a really good job of evading the punches.”

There was no fear from Rountree when the fight started as he came after Pereira with blazing fast punches from the outside. Pereira countered with a stiff calf kick while making sure he stayed out of Rountree’s range with the exchanges on the feet.

Roundtree started to find a home for his lead left hand but he was still coming up just short from really landing on the chin due to Pereira’s height and reach advantage. As the first round ended, Rountree appeared winded as he headed to his corner after exerted so much energy chasing after Pereira.

Always dangerous, Pereira looked like a cobra just waiting to strike as he continued to let Rountree exert himself while he looked for openings to unleash his best strikes. Pereira started throwing a head kick to keep Rountree guessing and then going low to the leg again.

Another kick from Pereira missed and Rountree countered with a huge right hand that caught the Brazilian flush as he dropped to the ground momentarily. Pereira recovered quickly but Rountree definitely got his attention with that shot landed.

Rountree opened the third round with a nasty body kick that showed more variety with his offensive attacks. In return, Pereira continued to chip away at him with those calf kicks and the going back up top with a heavy right hand.

The constant pressure from Pereira also started to include a lightning quick lead jab and Rountree was getting sloppy with his counters. Just before the horn sounded, Pereira came with a knee right up the middle that nearly took Rountree’s head off but he avoided the potential knockout blow.

The jab from Pereira continued to do damage and Rountree’s eye was just cut up and pouring blood down the front of his face and body. Pereira was leading the dance and looking for the kill with Rountree fading badly.

That’s when Pereira just unleased a huge combination that forced Rountree backwards as he got stuck against the cage. Pereira brutalized the body with two massive punches and then threw one final uppercut that crumbled Rountree to the canvas as his night came to a dramatic end.

It was another astonishing night at the office for Pereira, who continuously stepped up whenever the UFC needed him this year and his star power only grows from this latest victory. As far as what comes next, Pereira appears focused on defending his belt at 205 pounds rather than chasing champ-champ status.

“We saw that Dricus [du Plessis] is going to be fighting Sean Strickland,” Pereira said. “He’s a training partner of mine, I don’t want to get in his way. I can move up to heavyweight but this division is great. I feel great with this weight cut and this is where I’m at.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira is still the UFC light heavyweight champion after UFC 307, but he was tested by a game Khalil Rountree. In the end, “Poatan” changed the tide of the fight, and in the fourth round, Pereira delivered one of the most brutal finishing sequences in quite some time of the incredibly tough challenger.

Following Saturday’s pay-per-view event, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew react to Pereira’s wild victory, Rountree’s stock rising immensely in defeat, and where both could go from here. Additionally, topics include Julianna Pena’s controversial split decision win over Raquel Pennington to regain the women’s bantamweight title, no-selling Kayla Harrison — who was victorious earlier in the evening against Ketlen Vieira — to call out Amanda Nunes, the judges and referees stealing headlines for questionable decision making, Joaquin Buckley’s big night, and much more.

Watch the UFC 307 post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.

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Bonus Report
| BJPenn.com

UFC

UFC 307 wasn’t pegged as one of the most stacked fight cards of the year, but the promotion’s return to Salt Lake City on Saturday night sure offered some familiar faces.

Leading the charge was none other than Alex Pereira, who was in search of his third-straight title defense in just the past six months as he met surprise challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event. Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena was looking to win her title back against current division queen Raquel Pennington in co-main event action. Sprinkle in the likes of Jose Aldo, Stephen Thompson, Kayla Harrison, and Kevin Holland, and the average fight fan was more than happy

As for the hardcore viewers, UFC 307 didn’t completely deliver as advertised. Pereira certainly ended up doing his thing, but there were a few stinkers dumped in along the way. Let’s push past the trash and take a look back at some of the more memorable performances from UFC 307.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Indestructible ‘Poatan’ Grows Legacy

Believe it or not, Alex Pereira’s UFC stock grew even larger on Saturday night after the reigning UFC light heavyweight king battered and bloodied Khalil Rountree to the tune of a fourth-round TKO.

While many discredited Rountree’s accomplishments coming into this weekend he put up a good fight in the early going. “War Horse” even landed a surprise knockdown that caught Pereira’s attention. Unfortunately, a bad gas tank and accumulated damage to the eye started to take Rountree out of this fight.

In turn, Pereira was able to churn out one of his most memorable performances to date. “Poatan” has stopped bigger names before, but Saturday’s main event finish seemed different. Because of how tough Rountree was, Pereira was given the opportunity to style in front of the fans and unleash a vast majority of his offensive repertoire.

It was beautiful to say the least, especially when you consider it was Pereira’s third-straight title defense since April. Pereira’s incredible success in such a short period of time has made him one of the biggest stars in the sport. And as long as Conor McGregor is riding the pine, “Poatan” might claim the No. 1 spot after tonight.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

You Can’t Doubt Pena Anymore

Julianna Pena proved the doubters wrong after a two-year layoff from fighting as she won back her UFC women’s bantamweight title with a close decision win over champion Raquel Pennington.

Pena hasn’t fought since losing to Amanda Nunes back in July 2022 so fight fans didn’t know what to expect. Many didn’t even think Pena deserved to fight for the title in her first time back, but UFC matchmakers granted her shot. Her comeback fight was also taking place at altitude so it was anyone’s guess how game Pena would be.

Surprisingly, Pena had her foot on the gas from the opening bell and overwhelmed Pennington. The champion seemed reluctant to throw too much of anything. Even Pennington’s corner found it difficult to motivate her. Luckily for fight fans, Pennington snapped out of it and scored a huge knockdown in the fourth to steal back some momentum.

Pennington continued her offensive comeback in the fifth round and chased Pena down for most of the five minutes. Pena finally looked a little gassed. “Rocky” was able to end the fight on a high note, but Pena stole the decision along with the UFC women’s bantamweight title.

The fight was good enough to live up to the hype and left Pena as a two-time UFC champion, which is something that should keep the doubters at bay (for now).

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Did Bautista Earn His Stripes?

It may not have been the prettiest of wins, but Mario Bautista utilized a strong motor and constant pressure to outlast a hungry Jose Aldo last night at UFC 307.

Bautista came into Saturday’s contest riding a six-fight win streak and all the confidence in the world. Despite Aldo’s bantamweight resurgence and his will to fight his way back to a title shot, Bautista believed he’d be victorious at UFC 307. If he was going to do it he would have to be in control the entire time.

Luckily for Bautista, his endurance held up at altitude and he was able to pressure Aldo from the opening bell. Hard legs kicks began to pile up for Bautista as he slowed Aldo down and moved inside. Aldo is one of the toughest fighters to bring down so any attempt by Bautista just stalled the fight along the fence.

Aldo would return the favor with crisp jabs that busted up Bautista’s eye. The rising bantamweight pushed through it, though, and continued to lead the action. It would be enough to capture a split-decision win after the three-round fight hit the scorecards.

Many thought Aldo may have done enough damage to outweigh the control and leg kicks by Bautista, but that wasn’t the case. Bautista ultimately subdued the UFC legend and pushed his unbeaten streak to seven.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Holland Needs Another Move

It’s time to sit Kevin Holland down and make him pick the welterweight division now and forever.

While Holland is a lengthy fighter who is able to use his reach to land offense from the outside his skinny frame is not ideal for the middleweight division. There are many fighters at 185 pounds that also compete at light heavyweight, including Dolidze. It’s a weight class full of large fighters much stronger than Holland, especially in the grappling department.

Dolidze was able to take advantage of this and secured a takedown in the first round. As the Georgian fighter was pressuring Holland from top position “Trailblazer” tried to roll over and ended up injuring his rib. The round would end, but before the second could start the fight was waved off as Holland could no longer compete.

Holland may have tasted his demise at the hands of a freak accident, but he was in that position after giving up a takedown to Dolidze. It just doesn’t make sense for Holland to be taking fights at middleweight when he could very well fight more reasonable competition at 170 pounds.

Another move back down should be in the making.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Even A One Trick Pony Can Win The Race

Kayla Harrison showed strong grappling skills during her second UFC fight against Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307, but that was about it for the former Professional Fighters League (PFL) standout in a somewhat flat unanimous decision win.

Harrison came into this fight as a ridiculous betting favorite, which is probably why fight fans expected her to steamroll Vieira in the very first round. The Olympic gold medalist did score a takedown late into the first and landed heavy ground-and-pound to the sound of the bell, but Harrison struggled to dominate the way people thought she would.

Still, Harrison remained steadfast to grapple Vieira and drag her into deep water. Vieira landed a nice elbow along the way that cut Harrison open, but she wasn’t capable of doing much of anything else as she was on the defensive the entire fight. Harrison kept the pressure up and rode it out for a lopsided victory.

While it wasn’t the best performance you’ll see out of the women’s bantamweight division it may still be enough to position Harrison for a UFC title shot her next time out.

Additional Thoughts

• Joaquin Buckley defeats Stephen Thompson via third-round knockout: “Wonderboy” wasn’t so wonderful on Saturday night after tasting his fourth defeat in his last five appearances, but Buckley wasn’t that impressive either. Buckley did earn a spectacular knockout finish to close the “Prelims” undercard and push his welterweight record to 5-0, but everything that came before it wasn’t that great. Buckley had a hard time keeping down an aging Thompson and he looked incapable of closing distance on the feet to land consistent offense. It’s certainly a big feather in Buckley’s cap, but he may run into a stiffer road block his next out as he creeps into the top 10.

• Court McGee defeats Tim Means via first-round submission: This was McGee’s first finish in 14 years and it was a doozy. The veteran fighter was a sizeable underdog and coming off neck surgery, but “Crusher” pulled through and delivered a nasty rear-naked choke finish over Means in front of his home town. Most thought the 39-year-old would retire on a high, but he’ll continue to compete heading into 2025. Gutsy performance.
• Tecia Pennington defeats Carla Esparza via unanimous decision: For a fighter who was never the most popular, Esparza was cheered on pretty loudly after her retirement loss to Pennington. “Cookie Monster” already knew she was going to walk away form the sport before the fight, but the crowd sensed her urgency to find a win in the later rounds and it resonated. Seems to be too little too late for a pioneer of women’s MMA who just didn’t break through as a UFC star.

• Ryan Spann defeats Ovince Saint Preux via first-round submission: Spann once again showed up against lesser competition, but are UFC fans overly impressed? It seems as if “Superman” cleans up against unranked or older fighters and then chokes when it’s time to climb the light heavyweight ladder. Even Spann spoke about consistency after Saturday’s win and that will be a main focal point for his upcoming 2025 campaign.

For complete UFC 307 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Khalil Rountree Jr. won’t soon forget his epic battle against Alex Pereira at UFC 307, because he’ll have the scars to show for it.

Despite a valiant effort, the light heavyweight title challenger came up short after his night ended with a devastating fourth round knockout loss as Pereira’s championship reign continued. Following the fight, Rountree was transported to a local Salt Lake City hospital for precautionary reasons, which included stitching up several gruesome cuts he suffered during the fight.

UFC CEO Dana White posted a backstage photo of Rountree showing off all the cuts and bruising from the battle against Pereira.

While the result didn’t go his way, Rountree showed tons of heart as he gave Pereira everything he could handle during the early part of the fight. As time passed, however, Pereira seized control with pinpoint accurate striking including a jab that did a lot of that damage to Rountree’s face.

By the time the fourth round was underway, Rountree’s face was a mess and so much blood was pouring out of the wounds that his entire face and chest were both covered.

Still, Rountree kept coming until Pereira finally blasted him with a pair of body shots and one final uppercut that ended his night. He didn’t get the win, but White had nothing but praise for Rountree for his performance.

“He had no fear from the first round,” White said. “Khalil Rountree went in there and started going at it the minute the bell rang. No fear, no jitters, no nerves. Maybe he had some jitters and nerves, if he did, he didn’t show it.

“He went right in against one of the baddest dudes of all time and just started mixing it up with him. It was awesome.”

It remains to be seen if all of the damage done was just superficial or if Rountree suffered any kind of injuries from the fight. He’ll get checked over by doctors in Utah before being cleared to return home to Las Vegas.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts