UFC 307: Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.: Full Results
UFC 307 just wrapped up. The event took place at the Delta Center in Salt, Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 5, and featured 12 fights in eight weight classes. This article recaps the fights and explores the full results.
In the main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira attempted the third defense of his title against No.8-ranked Khalil Rountree Jr.
Pereira, who has emerged as one of the most active and fan-favorite champions in recent times, was coming off a second-round KO of Jiri Prochazka in their UFC 303 rematch. Meanwhile, Rountree Jr. earned the title shot with a dominant TKO win over former title challenger Anthony Smith in December 2023.
The UFC 307 fight was initially criticized due to Rountree Jr. not being a top-ranked contender. However, many expected it to be an interesting stylistic matchup.
Pereira started uncharacteristically aggressively to assert his dominance in the cage. Forced to fight while retreating, Rountree Jr. exploded with stinging strikes and had some success in the opening round. However, many of the punches fell a little short of the mark.
Pereira appeared to be getting comfortable countering the rapidly fading challenger by the middle of Round 2. But a missed head kick attempt gave Rountree Jr. an opportunity to counter with an overhand right that momentarily dropped the champion to his knees.
The momentum appeared to be shifting in Rountree Jr.’s direction by the midway point of the fight. However, the champion offered a strong response with jabs and clinch strikes to get the challenger's respect.
Rountree Jr. had no answer to Pereira’s jab as it busted and battered his face as the fight progressed. Pereira, who picked his shots instead of rushing in with reckless abandon, systematically broke down the challenger until he went down to the canvas with exhaustion and accumulation of damage, prompting the referee to wave off the fight in the closing minute of Round 4.
To his credit, Rountree Jr. tried to maintain composure and did his best to get back at the champion. But Pereira never gave him the openings required. Unlike some of his recent fights, the champion had to overcome adversity to get his hand raised against Rountree Jr.
With the win, Pereira created the record for securing three UFC title defenses in the shortest span –175 days. Inaugural UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey previously held the record. She defended the title three times in 189 days.
In the co-main event, UFC bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington attempted the first defense of her title against former title holder Julianna Pena. Pennington won the title with a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Mayra Bueno Silva at UFC 297. Pena, who had been on the sidelines for over two years, lost to former champion Amanda Nunes in the UFC 277 rematch in her last outing.
Both women have been relatively inactive with three combined appearances between them in the last two years. However, there were no signs of cage rust as they went five rounds in a gritty war of attrition.
Pennington had the most success in the striking department, dropping and hurting Pena several times. Meanwhile, Pena did her best work with dominant grappling in the early rounds. The incumbent champion picked up momentum in the championship rounds and had Pena retreating for the most part.
However, the judges declared Pena the winner by split decision. She became the second two-time UFC women's bantamweight champion after Amanda Nunes.
UFC 307 main card results
Featherweight legend and former bantamweight title challenger Jose Aldo returned to competition against No.11-ranked Mario Bautista. After retiring from competition in 2022, Aldo made a comeback with a unanimous decision win over Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301 and entered the top 10 of the official UFC bantamweight rankings.
Heading into the UFC 307 fight, his opponent, Bautista was on an impressive six-fight win streak.
In their bout, Aldo maintained a constant activity level and appeared to have landed the more meaningful strikes, especially in Round 2. However, Bautista mixed up his clinch game, takedown attempts, and striking to edge past the Brazilian on the scorecards and secure a split-decision victory.
Meanwhile, Roman Dolidze put his No.10 spot in the middleweight rankings on the line against Kevin Holland, coming off his UFC 303 win over Anthony Smith. Holland, who returned to middleweight with a technical submission win over Michal Oleksiejczuk in June, was unranked in the division heading into UFC 307.
Being the longer fighter with a pronounced reach advantage, Holland appeared to be doing well in the striking department even as Dolidze held his own. However, Dolidze took him down with relative ease using explosive strength, controlling with ground-and-pound shots.
Holland kept working from the bottom and tried to pull an armbar. Dolidze snapped out of the submission hold and it was later revealed that 'Trailblazer' suffered a rib injury during this grappling exchange. Dolidze finished the round dropping devastating strikes from the top.
The cageside doctor took a closer look at Holland after the round and ruled him unable to continue due to the rib injury, thus declaring Dolidze the winner by TKO.
In the main card opening bout, No.3-ranked women's bantamweight contender Kayla Harrison fought No.2-ranked Ketlen Vieira to further her quest for the UFC title shot.
While Harrison was expected to dominate the fight with superior grappling, Vieira did offer good resistance, especially in the second round, and made Harrison work for the victory. After three rounds of action, Harrison was declared the winner by unanimous decision.
UFC 307 preliminary card results
The preliminary card headlining bout saw No.11-ranked welterweight Joaquin Buckley go up against No.9-ranked Stephen Thompson. Having scored four straight victories, Buckley had the momentum on his side. Meanwhile, Thompson appears to be at the tail end of his professional MMA career at 41.
In the fight, Buckley started to pressure right from the opening bell and tried to get in close range of his longer opponent. 'New Mansa' also had success with his wrestling and secured several takedowns.
While Thompson stung the 30-year-old several times with precise strikes, he could not halt his advance. In Round 3, a vicious right hand from Buckley knocked 'Wonderboy' out on impact during an exchange against the cage and he went crashing down into the canvas face first. Following the win, Buckley called out former champion Kamaru Usman.
Marina Rodriguez took on fellow Brazilian Iasmin Lucindo in another veteran vs. rising contender matchup in the strawweight division. The closely contested bout saw Rodriguez snatch Round 1 with effective striking and grappling. However, Lucindo made the fight a lot more competitive in the later rounds and walked away with a split-decision victory.
Elsewhere, Alexander Hernandez secured a unanimous decision win over Austin Hubbard.
The preliminary card opening bout between Cesar Almeida and Ihor Potieria was marred by questionable officiating. Several eye pokes from Cesar Almeida halted the action and appeared to have impacted Potieria. Surprisingly, the referee did not issue a warning or deduct points from the Brazilian. Almeida won the fight by unanimous decision.
On the early prelims, Ryan Spann and Court McGree pulled off submission wins over Ovince Saint Preux and Tim Means, respectively. Meanwhile, Tecia Pennington defeated former two-time strawweight champion Carla Esparza by unanimous decision.
Check out the full UFC 307 results below:
Main card
Light heavyweight - Alex Pereira def. Khalil Rountree Jr. by KO (R4, 4:32) (Title fight)
Women's bantamweight - Julianna Pena def. Raquel Pennington by split decision (48-47 X 2, 47-48) (Title fight)
Bantamweight - Mario Bautista def. Jose Aldo by split decision (29-28 X 2, 28-29)
Middleweight - Roman Dolidze def. Kevin Holland by TKO (Rib injury) (R1, 5:00)
Women's bantamweight - Kayla Harrison def. Ketlen Vieira by unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28)
Preliminary card
Welterweight - Joaquin Buckley def. Stephen Thompson by KO (R3, 2:17)
Strawweight - Iasmin Lucindo def. Marina Rodriguez by split decision 29-28 X 2, 28-29)
Lightweight - Alexander Hernandez def. Austin Hubbard by split decision (29-28 X 2, 27-30)
Middleweight - Cesar Almeida def. Ihor Potieria by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)
Early prelims
Light heavyweight - Ryan Spann def. Ovince Saint Preux by submission (guillotine choke) (R1, 1:35)
Strawweight - Tecia Pennington def. Carla Esparza by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 X 2)
Welterweight - Court McGee def. Tim Means by submission (Rear-naked choke) (R2, 3:19)