Alex Pereira walks out of UFC 307 as a champion, but Khalil Rountree Jr. has nothing to hang his head about.

The challenger pushed Pereira to the limit in Saturday’s main event in Salt Lake City, standing and striking with the feared knockout artist for three rounds before succumbing to a Pereira flurry in the fourth. Every exchange had the Delta Center crowd roaring in approval and that was reflected in the fighters’ earning a Fight of the Night award and an extra $50,000 each.

Performance of the Night bonuses went to Joaquin Buckley and Ryan Spann, who both scored impressive finishes on the preliminary portion of the card.

Buckley scored a powerful knockout of two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson in the third round to improve to 5-0 since dropping to 170 pounds. He also earned his fifth Performance of the Night bonus.

Spann collected his third bonus with a first-round submission of veteran Ovince Saint Preux. After rocking Saint Preux with a right hand, he quickly jumped onto a guillotine choke that forced Saint Preux to tap. In his post-fight interview, Spann dubbed the maneuver “The Superman-otine.”

Fulham head coach Marco Silva says his side had clear chances to come away with a different result than the 3-2 defeat they suffered to Manchester City in the Premier League.

MATCH REPORT: Man City 3-2 Fulham

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Alex Pereira continues to shine as the MVP of the promotion after claiming victory in his fourth main event title fight in 11 months.

In the UFC 307 main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defended his light heavyweight title for the third time by defeating promotionally-ranked No. 8 Khalil Rountree. The challenger put up a stiff fight early, but ultimately, the champ retained by stopping Rountree with a hellacious flurry at 4:32 of Round 4.

Both landed well-placed countershots early in the fight. Pereira kept Rountree guessing with kicks, while the champ only dealt with punches coming in his direction in a competitive first round.

Pereira missed with a big head kick attempt in Round 2, leaving an opening for Rountree to crack him with a big punch. A combination and a heavy head kick soon followed, securing a clear second round for Rountree.

Early in Round 3, Rountree continued to land hard counterpunches, backing Pereira into the fence. Midway through, Pereira went back to adding hard leg kicks to his offense to slow down Rountree’s responses, which proved to be a pivotal point in the fight.

Rountree was busted open from strikes, and a jumping knee from Pereira prompted a heavy forward-pressure attack to seal the third round.

Bruised and bloodied in Round 4, Pereira continued to pick apart his opponent with sharp single strikes while trying to evade the return punches. Pereira turned up the pressure as Rountree began to back away, drawing out a wild firefight.

HUGE land for the Champ 👊 #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/2vmzRofzpw

— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2024

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Rountree was forced to cover up as he retreated to the fence with his right eye swollen shut, but Pereira was cautious of the counters and didn’t leave himself open. “Poatan” got a hold of Thai clinch to dig in more strikes, and the following flurry of heavy punches closed the show.

POATAN WINS THE WAR 🤯@AlexPereiraUFC battles for the TKO victory in the #UFC307 main event! pic.twitter.com/6fjNP9mSsF

— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2024

Pereira, 37, became the light heavyweight champ by stopping former champ Jiri Prochazka in the second round at UFC 295. He went on to pick up his first title defense in April at UFC 295 on short notice by finishing former title holder Jamahal Hill in the first round. “Poatan” stepped up to save the day again at UFC 303 in June, where he defeated Prochazka in a rematch.

Rountree, 34, was an unlikely challenger but, despite the loss, gave the champ a run for his money. He sees his five-fight winning streak come to an end in his first UFC title opportunity.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 307 results include:

• Alex Pereira def. Khalil Rountree via TKO (punches) – Round 4, 4:32
• Julianna Peña def. Raquel Pennington via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) – to win women’s bantamweight title
• Mario Bautista def. Jose Aldo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Roman Dolidze def. Kevin Holland via TKO (injury retirement) – Round 1, 5:00
• Kayla Harrison def. Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Joaquin Buckley def. Stephen Thompson via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 2:17
• Iasmin Lucindo def. Marina Rodriguez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alexander Hernandez def. Austin Hubbard via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Cesar Almeida def. Ihor Potieria via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Ryan Spann def. Ovince Saint Preux via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:35
• Tecia Pennington def. Carla Esparza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Court McGee def. Tim Means via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:19

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

There’s not much left to be said about Alex Pereira except Chama!

The signature catchphrase from the light heavyweight champion seems fitting after he delivered another stunning performance in the UFC 307 main event. It was a very mature fight from Pereira, who fended off a fast start from Khalil Rountree Jr. only to pour on the punishment with each passing minute.

By the time the action moved into the fourth round, Pereira really began damaging Rountree with his punches as the challenger’s face turned into a bloody mess from several cuts. Finally, Pereira backed Rountree against the cage, uncorked two brutal body shots followed by an uppercut that dropped his opponent to the ground in a heap.

The fight was stopped at 4:32 in the fourth round with Pereira moving to 3-0 with three title defenses in 2024.

“I can say that this was one of the toughest fights,” Pereira said following his latest win. “I expected that. He showed tonight why he’s got so much quality in here.”

A battered and bloodied Rountree had nothing but respect for Pereira as he still enjoyed the moment despite coming up short in his first attempt at becoming UFC champion.

“My thought coming into this fight was just to be grateful,” Rountree said. “I was really excited to come in here and I just embraced the moments. I don’t think I was surprised at all. I thought I was going to be able to hit him a lot more. He did a really good job of evading the punches.”

There was no fear from Rountree when the fight started as he came after Pereira with blazing fast punches from the outside. Pereira countered with a stiff calf kick while making sure he stayed out of Rountree’s range with the exchanges on the feet.

Roundtree started to find a home for his lead left hand but he was still coming up just short from really landing on the chin due to Pereira’s height and reach advantage. As the first round ended, Rountree appeared winded as he headed to his corner after exerted so much energy chasing after Pereira.

Always dangerous, Pereira looked like a cobra just waiting to strike as he continued to let Rountree exert himself while he looked for openings to unleash his best strikes. Pereira started throwing a head kick to keep Rountree guessing and then going low to the leg again.

Another kick from Pereira missed and Rountree countered with a huge right hand that caught the Brazilian flush as he dropped to the ground momentarily. Pereira recovered quickly but Rountree definitely got his attention with that shot landed.

Rountree opened the third round with a nasty body kick that showed more variety with his offensive attacks. In return, Pereira continued to chip away at him with those calf kicks and the going back up top with a heavy right hand.

The constant pressure from Pereira also started to include a lightning quick lead jab and Rountree was getting sloppy with his counters. Just before the horn sounded, Pereira came with a knee right up the middle that nearly took Rountree’s head off but he avoided the potential knockout blow.

The jab from Pereira continued to do damage and Rountree’s eye was just cut up and pouring blood down the front of his face and body. Pereira was leading the dance and looking for the kill with Rountree fading badly.

That’s when Pereira just unleased a huge combination that forced Rountree backwards as he got stuck against the cage. Pereira brutalized the body with two massive punches and then threw one final uppercut that crumbled Rountree to the canvas as his night came to a dramatic end.

It was another astonishing night at the office for Pereira, who continuously stepped up whenever the UFC needed him this year and his star power only grows from this latest victory. As far as what comes next, Pereira appears focused on defending his belt at 205 pounds rather than chasing champ-champ status.

“We saw that Dricus [du Plessis] is going to be fighting Sean Strickland,” Pereira said. “He’s a training partner of mine, I don’t want to get in his way. I can move up to heavyweight but this division is great. I feel great with this weight cut and this is where I’m at.”