UFC 307 fight card: Alex Pereira defends title against Khalil Rountree Jr., Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Pena

In keeping with his active approach to his fight schedule, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will fight for a third time in 2024 when he faces Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307. The fight was announced on Friday by UFC CEO Dana White. UFC 307 is scheduled to take place on October 5 in Salt Lake City.

Pereira has become one of the UFC's top stars after achieving great success in a short period of time after transitioning from a successful kickboxing career to a full-time career in MMA. UFC 307 marks the third year in a row that Pereira has had three fights.

Pereira made his UFC debut in November 2021 and picked up three straight wins before facing his former kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title. Pereira defeated Adesanya to win the title before losing the rematch. He then moved up to light heavyweight and won the title via a knockout of Jiri Prochazka in his second fight in that weight class.

Pereira has successfully defended the title twice since winning it, most recently stepping in at short notice to knock out Prochazka in a rematch at UFC 303 after Conor McGregor pulled out of the event. While some – including Pereira – wanted to give him a shot at the three-weight title by moving to heavyweight, White balked at the idea.

Rountree comes into the fight on a five-fight winning streak, with four of those wins coming by TKO. In his last fight, Rountree stopped former light heavyweight title contender Anthony Smith.

Rountree was scheduled to face former champion Jamahal Hill at UFC 303, but withdrew from the event after ingesting a banned substance. When Rountree discovered he had ingested a banned substance, he contacted the UFC to notify them and was suspended for two months.

Now he has a huge chance to become champion and defeat one of the UFC's most popular fighters.

In addition to Pereira vs. Rountree, White announced that in the co-main event, Raquel Pennington will defend her women's bantamweight title against former champion Julianna Pena. Pennington defeated Mayra Bueno Silva in January to win the title that was stripped from her after Amanda Nunes announced her retirement. Pena shocked the world with a submission win over Nunes in December 2021 before losing the title in a rematch. Pena has not fought since the rematch with Nunes in July 2022.