UFC 307 Results: Alex Pereira Makes Third Title Defence in 2024; Julianna Pena Crowned New Bantamweight Queen

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Alex Pereira successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight title for the third time in 2024, defeating Khalil Rountree Jr in the headliner of UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Pay-per-view event which took place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday (October 5).

The eleventh numbered event of 2024 in Utah proved itself to be the "State of Sport" with a highly entertaining card stacked with high level action. Divisional rankers Roman Dolidze, Kayla Harrison, and Mario Bautista all delivered convincing performances that warrant future title shots.

Meanwhile, Julianna Pena emotionally took back her UFC bantamweight belt in the co-main event before UFC light heavyweight king Pereira gave the fans another tremendous finish and left his fighting opponent bloodied in the Octagon.

The Delta Center recorded 17,487 audience in attendance, which happened to be the second highest grossing gate at $5 million USD. Pereira's main event assignment with Rountree Jr bagged the fight of the night award as two more fighters also walked away with bonuses from the arena.

Apart from the main eventers Pereira and Rountree Jr, Joaquin Buckley and Ryan Spann also took home an extra USD50K as performance bonus following their respective stoppage wins on the under card. Spann forced Ovince Saint Preux to tap out, while Buckley knocked out Stephen Thompson.

Speaking of stoppage wins, 5 of the 12 bouts on the card, including the headliner, ended in KO or TKO or Submission finishes, while the 6 fights including the co-main event went the distance for the result on the judges' scorecard. Here is the recap from UFC 307:

UFC 307 Recap

In the main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Pereira took on dark horse No. 8 ranked Rountree Jr. in his third title defense of 2024. Pereira peppered with calf kicks while Rountree looked to find his way inside during the opening round.

Rountree had a near knockdown and landed a high kick in the second, then a body kick in the third, pulling ahead of Pereira who kept up with damaging kicks then finished the round strong.

Pereira came out in the fourth and showed his off his dominant style by battering Rountree's face, but was only able to get the lionhearted challenger down by going for body shots.

After the knockout victory, #AndStill UFC light heavyweight champion Pereira said, "This was one of my toughest fights. He's trained at some of the best spots in Thailand, and he showed so much quality in here.

"The game plan was to let him tire. I studied his fights, his stamina goes down in the second round and my stamina only goes up, and that's what happened. I can move up to heavyweight, but this division is great."

In the co-main event, UFC women's bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington and former titleholder Pena engaged in a grudge match ten years in the making for all five rounds of their title fight.

The pendulum swung back and forth as the two punched and grappled through each round. In the end, it went to the judges, who gave a split verdict, but a decision which made Pena the winner.

Following the win, once again champ Pena said, "I'm glad I got the win. Raquel's a very tough opponent, I'm glad we could put (the grudge) to bed. I don't know what round it was, but I got dropped and I lost a bit of focus."

Pena also called out double champ Amanda Nunes and labelled their potential meeting as the one that would be the greatest fight in history of the women's bantamweight division.

"What I really wish is for Amanda Nunes to quit ducking and get back into the Octagon and let's settle it. We are one and one. That would be the greatest mixed martial arts fight in history for the women's bantamweight division," Pena added.

Also on the main, veteran Jose Aldo suffered split decision loss to Mario Bautista in a bantamweight bout after an injury stoppage handed Roman Dolidxe in the opening round of a middleweight bout. Plus, Kayla Harrison defeated Kelten Vieira via decision in the main card opener.

In the preliminary card, Court McGee, Joaquin Buckley and Ryan Spann claimed stoppage wins, while Alexander Hernandez, Cesar Almeida and Tecia Pennington earned the points on the judges scorecard for a decision win. Here is a look at the final results of UFC 307:

UFC 307 Results

• Light Heavyweight World Championship Bout: Alex Pereira defeated Khalil Rountree Jr. by TKO (strikes) at 4:32 of Round 4
• Women's Bantamweight World Championship Bout: Julianna Pena (48-47, 48-47) defeated Raquel Pennington by split decision (48-47)
• Bantamweight Bout: Mario Bautista (29-28, 29-28) defeated Jose Aldo by split decision (29-28)
• Middleweight Bout: Roman Dolidze defeated Kevin Holland by TKO (injury stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 1
• Women's Bantamweight Bout: Kayla Harrison defeated Kelten Vieira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Welterweight Bout: Joaquin Buckley defeated Stephen Thompson by KO (right hand) at 2:17 of Round 3
• Lightweight Bout: Alexander Hernandez (29-28, 29-28) defeated Austin Hubbard by split decision (30-27)
• Middleweight Bout: Cesar Almeida defeated Ihor Potieria by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Light Heavyweight Bout: Ryan Spann defeated Ovince Saint Preux by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:35 of Round 1
• Women's Strawweight Bout: Tecia Pennington defeated Carla Esparza by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Welterweight Bout: Court McGee defeated Tim Means by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:19 of Round 1