Alex Pereira just brings a different kind of savagery to the cage, and only a select few can withstand it.
The Brazilian juggernaut retained his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title, as he stopped Khalil Rountree with a hailstorm of punches in the fourth round of their UFC 307 headliner on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Pereira (12-2, 9-1 UFC) brought it to a close 4:32 into Round 4.
Rountree (13-6, 9-6 UFC) held his own—for a time. The Syndicate MMA rep buckled Pereira’s knees with a counter right hand in the second round and fought fire with fire against one of the most feared men in the sport. However, the high work rate and the damage he absorbed took their toll, and by the end of the third round, the tide had shifted. Pereira tore into the Los Angeles native with clean punches to the head, low kicks and knee strikes, opened multiple cuts and showered the canvas and surrounding area with blood. His final burst of offense with utterly breathtaking. Pereira ripped the body with hooks from both hands, then buried “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 23 finalist with a slashing right uppercut.
Pereira, 37, has won five fights in a row, four of them finishes.
Meanwhile, Julianna Pena reclaimed the undisputed UFC women’s bantamweight crown with a contentious split verdict over Raquel Pennington in the five-round co-main event. All three members of the judiciary struck 48-47 scorecards: Michael Bell and Sal D’Amato for Pena, Derek Cleary for Pennington.
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A closely contested first round gave way to a dominant 10-minute stretch for Pena (12-5, 8-3 UFC). She secured takedowns and progressed to the back with body triangles in the second and third rounds, racked up considerable control time and made a pass at a face crank at one point. Pennington (16-9, 13-6 UFC) answered in the fourth, where she floored the Sikjitsu product with a counter right hook, swarmed with follow-up punches and flirted with a guillotine choke. Pena seemed fatigued and unable to answer in Round 5. Pennington moved forward with punches, staggered “The Venezuelan Vixen” yet again and shrugged off a few attempted clinches. Those efforts ultimately fell short.
The setback was Pennington’s first since she was outpointed by Holly Holm in their UFC 246 rematch on Jan. 18, 2020.
Elsewhere, MMA Lab’s Mario Bautista rode non-stop pressure and a merciless clinch game to a unanimous decision over former UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting champion Jose Aldo in a three-round bantamweight showcase. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Bell and Cleary for Bautista, Chris Lee for Aldo.
The 31-year-old Bautista (15-2, 9-2 UFC) pressed forward behind body-head combinations and a steady diet of low kicks, often forcing the Brazilian legend into the fence against his will. Aldo (32-9, 14-8 UFC) spent far too much time with his back to the cage. Once in the clinch, Bautista stayed busy with knee strikes to the leg, shoulder strikes, foot stomps and occasional elbows upstairs. Aldo opened a cut above the John Crouch disciple’s right eye with a tight left hook in the second round and traded punches whenever he found himself in open space. His success, however, proved sporadic. Bautista crowded him down the stretch, paid no attention to a few referee restarts and did just enough to get by.
Bautista has now pieced together a seven-fight winning streak.
Further down the card, former two-division Xtreme Knockout titleholder Kevin Holland suffered an apparent rib injury during a grappling exchange with Roman Dolidze and could not continue in their middleweight feature. The anticlimactic stoppage was called in between the first and second rounds.
Holland (26-12, 13-9 UFC) chipped away with jabs, leg kicks and occasional punching bursts before being taken down by the burly Georgian. A short-notice substitution for the injured Chris Curtis, Dolidze (14-3, 8-3 UFC) applied his ground-and-pound and seemed content to pile up points while shaving time off the clock. Holland shifted his hips in a bid for an armbar, at which point he grimaced in pain and retreated into a defensive shell. Dolidze then turned up the heat and eventually climbed to full mount, uncorking punches until the horn sounded. After discussing the situation with Holland, his chief corner elected to call it off.
The 36-year-old Dolidze has won back-to-back bouts.
Finally, two-time Professional Fighters League champion Kayla Harrison overcame serious resistance to post a unanimous decision over Ketlen Vieira in their three-round women’s bantamweight appetizer. All three cageside judges scored it for Harrison (18-1, 2-0 UFC): 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Vieira (14-4, 8-4 UFC) exacted some significant damage—she raised a golf ball-sized hematoma above the American Top Team export’s right eye with a close-range elbow strike in the middle stanza—but lacked the tools and wherewithal to keep the two-time Olympic gold medalist at bay. Harrison executed takedowns in the first and third rounds, bullied into advantageous positions and unleashed elbow-laced ground-and-pound on the Andre Pederneiras protégé. Vieira was virtually powerless once the action spilled onto the mat.
Harrison, 34, has rattled off three straight victories and appears to have established herself as the No. 1 contender at 135 pounds.
In preliminary action, Joaquin Buckley (20-6, 10-4 UFC) wiped out Stephen Thompson (17-8-1, 12-8-1 UFC) with a vicious right hand 2:17 into the third round of their featured welterweight prelim; Iasmin Lucindo (17-5, 4-1 UFC) was awarded a split verdict over Marina Rodriguez (17-5-2, 7-5-2 UFC)—29-28, 28-29, 29-28—in a three-round women’s strawweight battle; Alexander Hernandez (15-8, 7-7 UFC) replaced Nate Landwehr on short notice and eked out a split decision over Austin Hubbard (16-8, 4-6 UFC)—27-30, 29-28, 29-28—in a three-round lightweight tiff; Cesar Almeida (6-1, 2-1 UFC) laid claim to a unanimous decision over Ihor Potieria (20-7, 2-5 UFC) in a three-round middleweight clash, sweeping the cards with matching 30-27 scores across the board; Ryan Spann (22-10, 8-5 UFC) took care of Ovince St. Preux (27-18, 15-13 UFC) with a guillotine choke 1:35 into the first round of their light heavyweight tilt; Court McGee (22-13, 11-12 UFC) put away Tim Means (33-17-1, 21-14 UFC) with a neck crank 3:19 into the first round of their welterweight pairing; and Tecia Pennington (14-7, 10-7 UFC) outstruck the retiring Carla Esparza (19-8, 10-6 UFC) to a unanimous decision in a three-round women’s strawweight affair, earning 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 marks from the cageside judges.
