Pereira vs Rountree to Headline UFC 307 in Utah
Alex Pereira is set to defend his belt for a third time in 2024 vs Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City. Women’s Bantamweight champion Racquel Pennington also has a title defense scheduled against Julianna Peña as the co-main event.
It’s crazy to think that after UFC 300 in April, Alex Pereira's rumored return was UFC 307 vs Jiří Procházka. He then steps in on short notice for UFC 303 but still is going to make a return for 307. Talk about a badass.
Pereira previously stated he would return after but not in October, which left November’s MSG card (almost positive this will be Jones vs Miocic) and UFC 310 in Vegas as the only other viable options. Somehow the UFC sweet-talked Poaton into putting yet another UFC PPV on his back.
As for his opponent... yeah Rountree is good and on a 5 win streak. But his last scheduled bout vs Jamahal Hill (#3 LHW), also at UFC 303, was canceled due to a PED violation by Khalil. So do steroids, pull out of the co-main event on International Fight Week, get suspended, and then earn a title shot. His last 5 wins are also not that great; 3 of the opponents were on a two or more losing streak, a split decision win vs Dustin Jacoby where many think Jacoby was robbed and Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith as his most recent victory. And to make his most recent win worse, it was in December of 2023.
Really no hate towards Rountree, the matchmaking just doesn’t make sense. Unless they are pushing for a quick, easy win for Pereira (which is 100% the case). The Hill vs Rountree matchup was actually exciting and the Light Heavyweight division has at least one other contender that should’ve got the shot first.