UFC 307: Pereira proves his elemental power and brains – controversial verdict in Pennington against Pena

“Chama” cannot be stopped
UFC champ Pereira proves his elemental power and brains

By Michael Bauer
October 6, 2024, 8:04 a.m

Alex Pereira cannot reveal boring fights. The Brazilian is becoming one of the UFC’s biggest stars and impressively shows in Salt Lake City why there is no match against him at the moment.

At the MMA event UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, Brazilian Alex Pereira once again demonstrated his dominance in the light heavyweight division. In the main fight against Khalil Rountree, the 37-year-old delivered an impressive performance. A controversial ruling overshadowed the women’s title fight.

With Khalil Rountree there is a rather surprising challenger in the title fight with elemental force Alex Pereira. After all, the American is “only” in 8th place in the rankings. Although he didn’t demand a title fight, he repeatedly emphasized that he absolutely wanted to fight against the Brazilian. The wish was fulfilled.

Pereira, who was cheered on by fans in Utah with chants of “Chama,” opened the fight with a wild charge but missed badly with a knee. The challenger proved he had a plan. Whenever the champion goes for a high kick, he shifts into forward gear and hits the body with his punches. Pereira visibly had problems with Roundtree’s pace in lap one.

Rountree surprised Pereira

The challenger’s best moments to date followed in round two. Under a high kick from the Brazilian, Rountree dives and lands a cracking right hook. The American then landed a head kick. In the third round, Pereira established a recipe for success that he was able to make at least two attempts in the round. He worked the challenger’s front leg with heavy kicks – and Roundtree visibly slowed down. He often came up short with his swings and was intercepted by the champion with jabs. The hits had an impact and left an American with a demolished face.

Round four should then belong entirely to the champion. The jab always found its target. The leg kicks reduced Rountree to nothing more than an immovable target. Pereira drove him along for minutes, landing hit after hit before he was able to put Rountree against the cage fence. Rountree took the guard up, Pereira delivered two fierce body hooks and an uppercut – it was too much for the challenger. He fell to the ground, the fight was over. “That was one of my toughest fights,” said Pereira. “I could go up a weight class, but I feel comfortable at light heavyweight,” the Brazilian then dispelled speculation that he would compete in a different weight class in the future.

You can also follow MMA on RTL on October 12th. Oktagon 62 with around 60,000 spectators in the Frankfurt stadium will be shown exclusively on RTL+ (with a premium monthly subscription from 8.99 euros). Christian Eckerlin and Christian Jungwirth will contest the main fight. There are also eleven more fights, an opening ceremony and a halftime show.

Surprise in the women’s title fight

After winning the women’s bantamweight title, Raquel Pennington was the first to challenge Julianna Pena. The two fighters share a long-simmering rivalry from the UFC reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter.” The first round was characterized by mutual scanning: the champion relied on quick advances with the jab, Pena also relied on the jab. However, the two fighters were able to read each other well and therefore hardly landed any significant hits.

Round two then a different picture: Pena managed a takedown and was able to bring Pennington to the ground. There the 36-year-old worked with short punches and knee strikes to the body. She then climbed onto her back and tried to apply submission holds. However, the champion was able to fend off these attempts. Round three looked similar: a short grope before Pena brought her opponent to the ground with a foot sweep. The challenger quickly regained control and looked for the submission hold. However, Pennington survived.

On the lap, Pennington then found the accelerator. With a violent kick to the head, she shook the challenger, then drove her in front of her and landed hit after hit. A right straight went to Pena and finally to the ground. Pennington followed up, and in the clinch the challenger was able to prevent Pennington from ending the fight. The last round was then led more openly by both opponents. Pennington found her target with good combinations, Pena kept looking for an entry point for the takedown – but couldn’t find it. The champion boxed out her opponent for five minutes. The judges had to decide. Surprisingly, she chose the challenger, who was actually clearly inferior for three rounds.

Bautista fights against UFC legend Aldo

With Jose Aldo, a real UFC legend wanted to get another chance at the title. However, the 37-year-old had problems against Mario Bautista in the first round. The two bantamweights exchanged a few punches as the Bautista pinned the Brazilian against the cage fence. There the American worked on his opponents with knee strikes to the upper body and legs. Aldo was able to free himself, but Bautista also landed the hits better while standing.

In the second round, the Brazilian found his distance better. A cracking jab finally caused Bautista to cut. His takedown attempts also came to nothing. Aldo improved toward the end of the round, using quick combinations that often got stuck in Bautista’s defense. But the jab was always a weapon to land hard hits and secure the round.

In round three, Bautista tried to slow down again and pinned Aldo against the cage. Little happened in the struggle for a better position and a takedown before the referee separated the two due to passivity. Bautista stuck to his plan and pinned the Brazilian against the cage again, but this time Aldo spun out. The judges ultimately saw the fight differently. One scored for Aldo, two for Bautista, who took the win.