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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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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“He Is Always Welcome”
| BJPenn.com

Kevin Holland and Joaquin Buckley haven’t seen eye-to-eye since their meeting all the way back in 2010, but the two fan favorites have seemingly buried the hatchet ahead of their respective fights this weekend at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Back in 2010, Holland and Buckley met under the bright lights of the Octagon. Holland ended up delivering a third-round TKO finish, but it was Buckley’s official UFC debut. Both fighters have grown significantly since then, but they still hold a bit of a grudge. Holland even said earlier this week that he intended to stay away from UFC 307’s fighter hotel in effort to avoid the “annoying” Buckley.

Check it out below:

Fortunately, cooler heads have prevailed. On Friday, Holland and Buckley ran into each other in the hotel lobby before UFC 307’s official weigh ins (results HERE). The two fighters were separated by an entire hotel floor, but they still engaged in some fight talk. To much surprise, the two contenders seemed to end their beef and even plotted on how Buckley would defeat Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson this weekend at UFC 307.

Check it out below:

“I think I’m shooting in the first 10 seconds,” said Buckley. “I’m pulling a Khamzat, what Khamzat did to you. On my momma we about to touch hands (and I’m shooting.)”

“You gotta do an ankle pick, if you don’t do an ankle pick it ain’t gonna work. I’m telling you,” responded Holland.

What do you think, fight fans? Is the bad blood over? Will Holland’s advice help Buckley this weekend at UFC 307?

Sound off!

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 307 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 307: “Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 307 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mike Tyson appears ready to go for next month’s blockbuster return to the boxing ring against Jake Paul.

The former heavyweight champion faces Paul Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, headlining an event that streams on Netflix for subscribers. The bout was initially scheduled for July, but Tyson withdrew after suffering a medical emergency.

With a lot of questions about the 58-year-old Tyson’s age, and overall health, “Iron” made an attempt to thwart some of the negative press with a pad melting training session, which he posted on Instagram.

Tyson hasn’t competed in a pro boxing match in nearly 20 years, losing a technical knockout to Kevin McBride in June 2005 after not answering the bell in Round 7. Tyson returned for an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, and fought to a no-decision after going the full eight, two-minute rounds.

After suffering his first loss to Tommy Fury in February 2023, Paul bounced back with four straight knockout victories. In his most recent outing, Paul stopped BKFC star Mike Perry in the sixth round in July.

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