5 takeaways from UFC 307: Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
The UFC visited Salt Lake City last night for its latest pay-per-view. Overall, the event was an up-and-down offering.
UFC 307: Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. featured a number of memorable fights and finishes, but also saw plenty of weirdness and frustrating moments, too.
So with plenty of talking points produced by the show, it's safe to say we'll be discussing this one for a while.
Here are five takeaways from UFC 307: Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
#5. Carla Esparza's retirement was unfairly quiet
Retirement in the UFC is always an interesting thing, primarily because in most instances, it just doesn't seem to stick. Most fighters who hang up their gloves end up returning sooner rather than later.
Despite that, surely the retirement of Carla Esparza last night could've been handled a little better.
'Cookie Monster' was the promotion's inaugural strawweight champion, winning the title back in 2014. She then claimed it for a second time, unseating Rose Namajunas in 2022 in a mild upset.
Neither of her title reigns were lengthy or memorable, but she'll probably still go down as one of the best 115-pound fighters of all time.
Prior to last night, she'd taken a lengthy period of absence to start a family, and her plan to hang up her gloves after one last fight was well-known. Despite this, her bout with Tecia Pennington was featured not on the main card at UFC 307, but as the second preliminary bout of the night.
Sure, the promotion produced a nice video package paying tribute to her, and gave her plenty of microphone time after what was a questionable loss via decision, but that's not the point.
As an inaugural champion, Esparza almost certainly deserved a bigger spotlight to retire under, particularly with the sheer number of events that take place these days.
Overall, this felt like a rare misfire for Dana White and company, even if 'Cookie Monster' ends up returning in the near future.
#4. Joaquin Buckley needs to be considered a serious UFC title contender at 170 pounds
It was always a contentious call to put the welterweight clash between Stephen Thompson and Joaquin Buckley onto UFC 307's preliminary card rather than the main card.
In the end, Buckley proved why he probably deserved to be well in the spotlight, as he knocked out 'Wonderboy' in stunning fashion in the third round.
The fight had been a fun one from the off, with the two strikers exchanging throughout the first two rounds. Going into the third, it felt like Thompson had probably edged the first round, Buckley the second, leaving things hanging in the balance.
Quite how the fight would've gone had it made the scorecards is anyone's guess, but 'New Mansa' made sure the judges were not needed. He leveled Thompson with an insane strike - a leaping right hook that wasn't quite a superman punch - to pick up the biggest win of his career.
With five wins in a row under his belt at 170 pounds, Buckley has to be considered a welterweight title contender. There's an argument, in fact, that he might be the most explosive striker in the division right now.
Whether he'll get the clash with Kamaru Usman that he asked for is debatable, but it's fair to say he's earned a big fight next time out. Going into 2025, he's a man to watch closely.
#3. Does the UFC really have a problem with stalling?
It's probably not a stretch to say that the most frustrating fight on offer last night was the bantamweight clash between Mario Bautista and Jose Aldo.
The legendary former featherweight champion came out on the wrong end of a judges' decision after basically having no answer for Bautista's gameplan, which seemed to be based around clinching and pinning his foe into the fence.
Aldo almost certainly landed the better strikes throughout the dull fight, but as soon as it appeared that he'd gotten into a groove, Bautista was able to slow things down and grind him out.
The win will go down as the biggest of Bautista's octagon career and has left him on a seven-fight win streak. Overall, though, it appeared to raise a bigger question: does the UFC have a problem with stalling?
One person who seems to think so is Conor McGregor, who ranted on X throughout the bout and suggested that referees should put fighters on a clock and separate them quicker to avoid prolonged clinching.
It was a viewpoint that seemed to be echoed by Dana White in his post-event press conference, too.
In reality, it's a difficult discussion that is hard to argue either way. On one hand, it's arguable that the clinch can be an advantageous position and fighters can do plenty of damage from there. More to the point, it ought to be on the defending fighter to be able to escape such a position - something Aldo failed to do last night.
On the other hand, as McGregor says, MMA is a sport to entertain the fans, and nobody wants to see the tactic often referred to as "wall and stall".
Essentially, then, this will be one for the various athletic commissions in charge of the details to pick apart in the future.
#2. Julianna Pena cannot be allowed to avoid Kayla Harrison
Two of last night's bantamweight bouts were always going to go hand-in-hand. To many fans, it felt like a bad call from the UFC to have Julianna Pena and not Kayla Harrison challenge Raquel Pennington for the 135-pound crown.
After all, the Olympic gold medalist had destroyed Holly Holm in her octagon debut and looked like a star in the making. Pena, meanwhile, hadn't fought since losing the title to Amanda Nunes back in 2022.
The general consensus, then, was that a win over Ketlen Vieira last night would cement Harrison as the next title challenger beyond any doubt. Indeed, the two-time PFL champ largely dominated Vieira, capturing a clear-cut decision despite suffering some damage in the process.
Pena, meanwhile, reclaimed the title from Pennington in the night's co-main event, despite suffering a bad knockdown in the fourth round. Whether 'The Venezuelan Vixen' deserved the nod from the judges was debatable, with plenty of observers believing otherwise.
Either way, though, it seemed like a no-brainer for the UFC to set up Pena vs. Harrison in the aftermath of the former's title win. Instead, 'The Venezuelan Vixen' used her promo time to call out Nunes, who retired last year.
To be quite frank, it was a ridiculous move from Pena and, with any luck, the UFC will ignore her requests and book her to fight Harrison anyway.
The last thing the promotion needs right now is another champion seemingly dodging a deserving challenger, and the Olympian is as deserving as it gets. If there's any justice, Pena vs. Harrison will take place in the first part of 2025.
#1. 2024 is the year of Alex Pereira
If there was any doubt about it prior to UFC 307, there can be no doubt about it now: 2024 is the year of Alex Pereira.
'Poatan' defended his light heavyweight title successfully for the third time last night, stopping Khalil Rountree Jr. violently in the fourth round of what was a competiitve, exciting fight.
Given that it hasn't yet been a year since the Brazilian claimed the gold, the fact that he's already defended it more times than every other current champion bar Islam Makhachev is ridiculous.
It'd be unfair to Rountree to suggest that he didn't push Pereira. Considering many observers felt that he didn't deserve his shot at the title, 'The War Horse' performed bravely and even stunned 'Poatan' in the second round.
However, when it came down to it, he simply wasn't good enough to beat such a skilled kickboxer. In the fourth round, Pereira was able to really get into his groove.
He began to dodge Rountree's punches with ease and land clubbing blows in return, busting him up and battering him beyond recognition.
How Rountree remained standing for so long was anyone's guess, but in the end, 'The War Horse' wilted and gave up the ghost.
What's next for Pereira? There are a number of options, of course, including a move to heavyweight, but it's likely that he'll take a well-earned break for a while now at least.
Either way, this fight basically confirmed 'Poatan' as the UFC fighter of 2024. Any other choice would, frankly, be a nonsense.