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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira is not going anywhere — at least for the time being.

The UFC light heavyweight champion defends his throne Saturday, facing Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City but he hit the pause button on talks of potential moves to middleweight or heavyweight next.

Asked at his UFC 307 media day appearance on Wednesday if he would rather gain more weight and challenge a heavyweight next or cut back down to 185 pounds and try and regain his title from Dricus du Plessis, “Poatan” said he would stay right where he is.

“I would choose to defend my belt,” Pereira said. “Because it takes a planned work to cut down in weight, and it takes planned work to move up as well, but it’s perfect for this division.”

Pereira left the middleweight division after losing a rematch to Israel Adesanya in April of 2023 and ended the year as 205-pound champion with a knockout win over Jiri Prochazka.

The Brazilian already defended his UFC title twice in 2024, stopping Jamahal Hill and Prochazka by knockout, and recently said he would be interested in returning to middleweight to compete against du Plessis after facing Rountree.

The UFC has yet to say who’s next in line at either division, but Magomed Ankalaev is expected to earn a shot at Pereira if he beats Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 later this month. Sean Strickland, who was part of Pereira’s camp for UFC 307, is hoping to face du Plessis next for middleweight gold.

Pereira met UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones at The Sphere in Las Vegas, during UFC 306. Despite an online campaign for “Poatan” to go to heavyweight and possibly face Jones for a third belt, he’s more interested in training with the UFC legend.

“He’s made it pretty clear that he’s only doing one more fight and retiring,” Pereira said. “And I’m not even part of this division, so I would be far from doing that fight. And I have an open mind, so training and learning from him is something I would absolutely do.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Joaquin Buckley is doing his best to keep his full focus on Stephen Thompson at UFC 307, but some old beefs keep pulling him in different directions.

Perhaps the most interesting encounter was finally sitting down and hashing out his differences with UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier after they engaged in a fiery war of words earlier this year. The incident stemmed from Cormier criticizing Buckley’s decision to call out Conor McGregor following a win, which led to an ugly exchange on social media.

Buckley later said he hoped to meet up with Cormier prior to his fight at UFC 307 to settle their differences.

“I just got done talking to D.C.” Buckley revealed during UFC 307 media day. “That was cool. We was in front of the camera, I thought we was just going to be in the room by ourselves for a bit just to be able to talk like men.

“But it is what it is, we had a good conversation. A good interview. People will be able to see it. That’s what I thought it was going to be, off camera and just man to man, I think that’s the conversation I would rather have, I’d be more comfortable with if anything.”

Buckley also responded to former opponent Kevin Holland, who said on Wednesday that he chose a different location to stay outside of the UFC fighter hotel to avoid a potential run-in between them. Holland scored a TKO win over Buckley when they met back in 2020 but the rivalry apparently never ended afterwards.

For his part, Buckley says he has no issues with Holland and his grand plan didn’t really work anyways — because he’s not even staying at the fighter hotel.

“I don’t have an issue with Kevin Holland,” Buckley said. “I’m here to fight [Stephen Thompson] and get my paycheck. But if Kevin wants any beef or any problems, he’s just going to have to pull up on me. That’s all.”

When it comes to his actual fight on Saturday, Buckley told MMA Fighting prior to UFC 307 that he had no issue with Thompson outside of trying to further his own career by beating the two-time UFC title challenger.

Just after the fight was announced, Buckley joked that he was going to send “Wonderboy” to Karate Combat but that wasn’t a sly way to say he’s attempting to end Thompson’s career.

Instead, Buckley explained that he wants to dominate Thompson so thoroughly when they meet that the 41-year-old veteran won’t have any choice but to acknowledge his days of chasing a UFC title are over.

“It’s not about stopping his career, it’s about giving him a different career path,” Buckley said. “I know that once I beat him and how I beat him and the fashion [I beat him], he’s still in his mind wants to become a UFC champion — once I beat him, he knows that’s over.

“He don’t want to keep fighting trying to prove himself, especially fighting the younger bucks. I think he’s really going to face the fact and face the reality that once I beat him, this dream that I’ve got, I might as well let that go and become a [Karate Combat] champion. Because I think he can do that. I think he can become a champion in Karate Combat.”

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Israel Adesanya usually picks against Alex Pereira.

In fact, “The Last Stylebender” has even gone so far as to channel shaman spirits in hopes of cursing his longtime rival, who despite Adesanya’s best efforts, continues to knock out every opponent the promotion stands in front of him.

Perhaps reverse psychology will help break some of those curses.

“Just off the cuff, I’ll go Pereira because [of] momentum right now,” Adesanya said on The Adam Carolla Show. “Rountree doesn’t grapple. He likes to kickbox, he’s never gone for a takedown. If you’re going to do that with Pereira … and I’m the only one who has ever rocked him, or stood with him in the UFC, everyone else, he’s washed. Rountree, I feel like, if he can make it dirty and catch him, he can catch him. But it’s so hard to do with Pereira because, Rountree, his reach might not be able to get to him.”

Pereira defends his 205-pound title against Khalil Rountree Jr. atop the UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for this Sat. night (Oct. 5, 2024) inside Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their five-round headliner is unlikely to feature any grappling (because of this).

“I’m going to go Pereira, and I’m going to go TKO or KO,” Adesanya said. “I don’t know what round, but I just feel like it’ll be hard for Rountree to get past that frame. [I can see] leg kicks, leg kicks [from Pereira], and he might catch Rountree as he comes in. Because Rountree is going to be attacking him. Paper can’t fight paper, so that’s why you’ve got to fight. But it’s a good fight and I think, again, Pereira by Round 2 or Round 3. But if Rountree does it, f*cking ridiculous.”

Pereira remains the odds-on betting favorite.

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

Israel Adesanya is picking Alex Pereira to retain the light heavyweight title once again.

Pereira, the longtime combat rival of Adesanya, headlines Saturday’s UFC 307 event as he defends against Khalil Rountree in Salt Lake City.

“Just off the cuff, I’ll go Pereira because [of] momentum right now,” Adesanya said on The Adam Carolla Show. “Rountree doesn’t grapple. He likes to kickbox, he’s never gone for a takedown. … If you’re going to do that with Pereira — and I’m the only one who has ever rocked him, or stood with him in the UFC, everyone else, he’s washed — Rountree, I feel like, if he can make it dirty and catch him, he can catch him. But it’s so hard to do with Pereira because, Rountree, his reach might not be able to get to him.”

Pereira won the first three meetings with Adesanya — including capturing the middleweight title from “The Last Stylebender” with a fifth-round TKO at UFC 281 in November 2022. Adesanya would regain the title five months later at UFC 287 with a devastating knockout, which served as the final time Pereira would compete at 185 pounds. “Poatan” moved up to light heavyweight where he captured the title, and successfully defended in 2024 with brutal knockouts of Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, and Jiri Prochacka at UFC 303.

While Adesanya believes Rountree is a dangerous fighter, he believes that Pereira will just be too much with his frame, defense, and power.

“I’m going to go Pereira, and I’m going to go TKO or KO,” Adesanya said. “I don’t know what round, but I just feel like it’ll be hard for Rountree to get passed that frame.

“[I can see] leg kicks, leg kicks [from Pereira], and he might catch Rountree as he comes in. Because Rountree is going to be attacking him. … Paper can’t fight paper, so that’s why you’ve got to fight. But it’s a good fight and I think, again, Pereira by Round 2 or Round 3. But if Rountree does it, f*cking ridiculous.”

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