In an interesting twist, Alex Pereira will return to the main event spotlight on Saturday, October 5 when the promotion heads to Salt Lake City for UFC 307.
There, Pereira will put his light heavyweight championship on the line against Khalil Rountree in a headliner that literally nobody saw coming. Dana White made the official announcement on Friday—24 hours before the UFC kicks off its pay-per-view offering in Perth.
It will be Pereira’s third fight of 2024 after dispatching ex-champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka via a pair of highlight-reel knockouts. Since making the move up from middleweight to 205, ‘Poatan’ has not lost a fight, winning four in a row and looking practically unbeatable while doing it.
Hoping to put a stop to Pereira’s reign will be Khalil Rountree. Currently holding things down as the No. 8 ranked contender in the division, ‘The War Horse’ has won five straight, including noteworthy finishes against Modestas Bukauskas, Chris Daukaus, and Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith.
Rountree has not yet competed in 2024, largely due to a suspension he faced after testing positive for 5a-androstanediol, 5b-androstanediol, and androsterone, which are all metabolites of DHEA—an anabolic steroid prohibited at all times for athletes. As a result, Rountree was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in July.
Before that, he was scheduled to co-headline UFC 303 against Jamahal Hill.
Technically, Rountree is still suspended, but with news of his return, it’s likely that he’s already reached an adjudication agreement with the commission.
Pennington vs. Pena Joins Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree on UFC 307 Main Card
In addition to Pereira vs. Roundree, White also announced the co-main event for UFC 307 in the Crossroads of the West.
Reigning UFC bantamweight women’s champion Raquel Pennington will put her title on the line against former champion Julianna Pena.
Pena hasn’t fought since losing a lopsided unanimous decision against Amanda Nunes in July 2022. Overall, she’s gone 2-2 in her last four fights while ‘Rocky’ has rattled off six straight, including her title-winning performance against Mayra Bueno Silva in January.
Multiple matchups have already been announced for the event, all of which you can see below:
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Movsar Evloev
- Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista
- Kayla Harrison vs. Ketlen Vieira
- Roman Dolidze vs. Kevin Holland
- Stephen Thompson vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Iasmin Lucindo
- Ihor Potieria vs. Cesar Almeida
- Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Pennington
