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LIVE: UFC 307 press conference video updates! Tune in TONIGHT (Thurs., Oct. 3, 2024) at 7 p.m. ET in the embedded video above to watch the Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.-led media extravaganza in “The Beehive State,” held just two days in advance of the upcoming UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat. night (Oct. 5) at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Emceed by UFC CEO Dana White, the UFC 307 press conference is expected to feature a bevy of main card attractions, including Raquel Pennington, Julianna Pena, Jose Aldo, and Kayla Harrison, among others. Remember too that we’ll have all the corresponding staredowns and face offs posted right here on MMAmania.com just as soon as today’s UFC 307 presser concludes.

“Everything that could be wrong for Pereira in terms of the commonalities that everyone has ever been upset has faced,” former middleweight title challenger, Chael Sonnen, said on his Good Guy-Bad Guy show with Daniel Cormier. “Finding yourself in a match that’s harder than the audience knows, finding yourself in a match that’s more dangerous than you’re aware, finding yourself in a match where this guy’s gonna play your game and I’m talking about the big heavy shots on the feet.”

“I’m not arguing that Khalil is cleaner or more talented of a kickboxer than Pereira, but I will argue for you Pereira can hit you one time and put you down — Khalil only has to hit him one time and Khalil will put him down,” Sonnen continued. “Every upset has a couple of commonalities. This fight, you’ve got to keep your eyes on it.”

Especially considering it may end in the blink of an eye.

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 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

The upcoming Bellator Paris card scheduled on Nov. 16 has been cancelled.

PFL officials confirmed the news on Thursday after the Adidas Arena in Paris posted a notification that “due to circumstances beyond our control, the event has been forced to be cancelled.”

PFL issued a separate statement regarding the change to the event.

“Bellator Paris (Nov 16) has been postponed and fighters have been rescheduled for later dates,” PFL officials said. “All previously purchased tickets for Bellator Paris have been refunded. Purchasers will receive a buy one get one ticket purchase opportunity for PFL Europe Championship in Lyon, France on December 14.”

The upcoming Bellator card in Paris was headlined by a bantamweight title fight as reigning champion Patchy Mix was putting his belt up for grabs against Leandro Higo. The card was also supposed to feature the return of Baissangour Chamsoudinov in a fight against Oliver Enkamp.

On the official website, the next Bellator Champions Series card is listed for Tuesday, Dec. 31 but there are no fights listed yet for that event.

It’s unknown if both of those previously scheduled bouts will shift to that card or not.

The most recent Bellator event took place in September in London and that card also featured a late change after the main event between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards was pulled and rescheduled for the upcoming PFL: Battle of the Giants pay-per-view on Oct. 19. Sara Collins ended up submitting Leah McCourt in the new main event for that Bellator card in London.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The fight between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña is for more than just the UFC women’s bantamweight title: it’s a battle for the future of the weight class. At least, so says Peña.

This Saturday, Pennington puts her women’s bantamweight title on the line against Peña in the co-main event of UFC 307. Peña is the brash, outspoken challenger best known for pulling off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history against Amanda Nunes at UFC 269, while Pennington is a divisional workhorse who finally who won the vacant title earlier this year with a win over Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297.

They are diametrically opposed personalities in and outside of the cage, and at least for Peña, their differences show why she is the best option to serve as the face of the women’s bantamweight division.

“I believe that I want this opportunity and that this championship belt means more to me than it does to her,” Peña told reporters at UFC 307 media day. “It’s very clear when you match us up, side by side. Raquel has not been a good representation of the women’s bantamweight division. She has not promoted, she has said no to Embedded, she has constantly done everything that she can to avoid being the face of women’s MMA and not being that big face that wants to promote and be that great representation of women’s MMA.

“To me… you’re showing me nothing, but you’re telling me everything by not being that person that is letting everybody know that you’re fighting. I want to be that person. That’s my role and I can do it better, and that’s why I believe I’m going to be able to seal the deal on Saturday night and get that gold again.”

Peña held the bantamweight title from December 2021 until July 2022, where she lost it in her rematch with Nunes at UFC 277. Peña has not competed since then, though she was rumored to be in line to fight Pennington for the vacant belt until she got sidelined by injury.

Meanwhile, Pennington is on a six-fight winning streak over the past four years with wins over multiple top-15 ranked opponents. And for her, actually getting in the cage and fighting is substantially more important for being the face of the division.

“We all know that Julianna has a Master’s Degree in Yapology,” Pennington said in her own media day scrum. “All she does is talk shit. She keeps herself relevant that way. To sit here and say I turned down Embedded, how does she know anything that I’m even doing. It’s interesting. But she just yaps and she talks, but at the end of the day, I’ve always been me. I stay authentic to who I am. I don’t feel the need to go out there and do all the extra shit-talking and whatnot.

“This is 14 years of hard work. I got here just staying in my lane. You want to call me a terrible representation, I didn’t see her doing any better. She had the biggest upset and thens he turned around and got her ass handed to her for five rounds. Where is the representation in that? But I can tell you, for sure, I’m damn sure here to stay. And still.”

UFC 307 takes place this Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Have we already witnessed Conor McGregor’s final performance in the UFC?

With more than three years passed since his last appearance and no sign when he may compete again, McGregor’s future seems more in question now than ever before. In fact, Matt Brown has long maintained that McGregor was never going to return but his argument was only strengthened after Michael Chandler moved on from a showdown against the Irish superstar after sitting out for nearly two years waiting for the fight to happen.

“It’s clear — he’s not grinding the way a guy getting ready to compete should be grinding,” Brown said about McGregor on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I’m still on that same thought process of look we’re probably never going to see Conor again. If we do, I would not be blown away, I’ll say I was wrong, whatever. I don’t think we’re seeing him again in the UFC cage.”

Brown believes there are a myriad of reasons why McGregor won’t likely fight again but perhaps the strongest indication actually came back in 2021.

That was the night McGregor suffered a gruesome broken leg in a trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier, which served as his second straight loss in a row. Looking back now, Brown says he saw something change in McGregor that he just can’t get back again.

“When that [fight] happened, it looked to me that Dustin took his soul that day,” Brown said. “I think we all felt that. Maybe we didn’t know it would be as severe as it is. We thought Conor’s a warrior, he’ll be back soon. But when you back and you watch that fight, Dustin took his f*cking soul.

“I thought Nate Diaz might have taken a little bit the first time [he beat Conor] but Conor bounced back from it. Whatever Dustin did to him, I think Dustin actually took his soul, and he no longer had the desire to compete anymore.”

Of course, McGregor would likely disagree considering his constant calls to get booked for fights and complaints that he’s been sidelined far longer than he ever intended after recovering from the injury.

UFC CEO Dana White said he expects McGregor back sometime in early 2025 but he wasn’t willing to contemplate an opponent until the former two-division champion is actually ready to return.

With Chandler out of the running for now — he could obviously still end up as McGregor’s opponent after he competes at UFC 309 — Brown just isn’t sure what options are available.

“If he comes, who does he come back against?” Brown said. “The division has moved on. The Conor of 2016 is not the Conor of today. I can’t think of a single good matchup for him in the top 10. There’s a million lightweights in the world but he’s got to fight a top 10 guy. He’s Conor McGregor. There’s no way he comes back fighting No. 20 or No. 25 or something.

“He has to fight a top 10 guy. Who’s a decent matchup for him in the top 10 to come back [against] after four years?”

While there is no denying McGregor’s status as the biggest draw in the UFC, Brown doesn’t know if his name carries much more weight than that these days.

It’s been eight years since McGregor last held UFC gold and he hasn’t fought for a UFC title in six years.

A win over McGregor certainly results in a big paycheck and a lot of attention but Brown says that’s really the most anybody is getting if he actually comes back.

“The problem now that everybody would have, too, it is just a money fight,” Brown explained. “It’s not going to get you closer to a title beating Conor McGregor, other than bringing your name value up.

“Beating Conor McGregor, you might skip the line a little bit because you just blew your name up a lot but no one’s going to be like ‘you deserve a title fight now that you just beat Conor McGregor.’”

Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio

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