SALT LAKE CITY – Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree have handled their final bit of business before sharing the octagon at Friday’s UFC 307 ceremonial weigh-ins.

After making weight earlier in the day, current champion Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) and first-time challenger Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) got a last look at each other with a staredown in front of fans and media and the world watching online.

Pereira will attempt to make history with the shortest stretch between three successful title defenses after winning in April and July. Rountree, meanwhile, will look to make the most of his opportunity as an unexpected presence in a fight for the belt.

Check out the video above to see the final Pereira vs. Rountree staredown ahead of the UFC 307 headliner.

UFC 307 takes place Saturday at Delta Center. The main card airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.

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

Grant Dawson takes umbrage with people labelling him as boring.

Dawson (21-2-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) takes on Rafa Garcia (15-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in a lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night 244 Oct. 12 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Outside from a 33-second upset knockout loss to King Green in the UFC Fight Night 229 headliner last October, Dawson is unbeaten in the UFC. Not only is he unbeaten, but he’s been able to use his wrestling to dominate plenty of his opposition – most recently Joe Solecki at UFC 302 in June.

Despite his prowess on the ground, Dawson hasn’t gained the popularity as a surging lightweight like he would have wished.

“I’m trying to be more exciting, I really am,” Dawson told MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s just I’m so dominant on the ground, it’s so easy for me to take people down, ride them out, get the choke, land lots of punches, make my percentage of top time even farther away from everybody else in the division than it already is.

“It’s so easy for me to do that. It’s hard for me to be, like, in a fight: Somebody’s throwing leather at my face, and me be like, ‘Nah, I’m not going to take them down, the fans want to see me knock him out.’ I’m fighting for my life in there. I’m fighting for my wife to not have to go back to work. It’s hard for me not to take somebody down when I know I can do it.”

Dawson says if UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev can become a fan favorite with an elite wrestling style, then why can’t he get some love as well.

“The thing that upsets me the most about it is probably, they’re so picky on who they like and who they don’t, and what kind of style they are,” Dawson continued. “Everybody thinks that Islam Makhachev is the coolest thing since sliced bread, but he’s doing the same stuff I’m doing.

“But then when I go ride somebody out – literally in my last fight I had 13:45 of control time in a 15-minute fight. That’s insanity. Where, exactly, do you have to give up being dominant to be a bit more exciting? I don’t really know what these guys want to see. I’m just going to keep winning.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.

In April, a three-year project researching ACL prevention was launched in the WSL.

Sorensen said Everton had also analysed factors influencing player injuries after the club endured an injury-plagued 2023-24 season.

“We take everything into consideration and make sure, especially with this small squad, we need people healthy. That’s the aim. A big blow but nothing we can do about it,” he said.

“We have to look forward to the squad we have and keep them as healthy as we can because we can’t afford losing more.”

Everton, who travel to Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal on Sunday, have yet to score a league goal this season and sit second from bottom in the WSL table.

Despite the poor start to the 2024-25 campaign and losing Gabarro and Galli to ACL injuries, Sorensen said his squad have “handled it really well”.

“The group is quite resilient after all the injuries we had. Its not ideal but that’s the way it is in football,” he said.

“We can’t start not going 100% into everything we do, whether it’s a tackle or a duel. We have to do 100, otherwise what’s the point. We have to have that mentality as a team, and the girls agree.”

Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes are confident that fellow Brazilian star Alex Pereira leaves Salt Lake City as UFC light heavyweight champion at UFC 307, but disagree about his future with the company.

Oliveira, a former UFC lightweight champion, likes “Poatan” going back to middleweight or pursuing a historic feat, while Lopes approves a heavyweight showdown against the man currently holding interim gold, Tom Aspinall.

“A fight that would be really interesting for everybody would be against Aspinall because that way [Pereira] wouldn’t have to stress his body going down as much in weight for 185,” Lopes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “He would be fighting at his natural weight, basically, with no weight cut. I think the Aspinall fight would interest people the most.”

“I think it would be insane to win three belts,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “‘Poatan’ is a big guy so he would be gigantic [at heavyweight], too. I guess he has to think what’s best for him. Can he make weight [at 185] and feel good going back down again? That would be good for him, and I think he would definitely wins [against Dricus Du Plessis]. If he goes up that would be great, because then he would have three belts, but whatever his team decides, his coach Plinio [Cruz] is good.”

Pereira enters his third defense of the UFC light heavyweight belt in 2024 against Rountree after knocking out Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka with ease at UFC 300 and UFC 303 respectively. The decision to award Rountree a shot at UFC gold was a surprise to many, including Oliveira, but Lopes believes that makes him a dangerous opponent.

“It’s a very interesting fight,” Lopes said. “It’s something that has happened quite often in the UFC lately, someone down the rankings fighting for the belt — or facing a top-ranked fighter. And you know, when people from the bottom get an opportunity like that, they come in hungry. I think that’s how Khalil comes in this fight. But ‘Poatan’ has looked unstoppable, right? It’s going to be an interesting fight because it’s 100 percent striking. Khalil has never shot for a takedown in his career, and ‘Poatan’ has takedowns although he’s a natural striker. It’s a very interesting fight, and I think ‘Poatan’ wins.”

Oliveira was “very surprised” by the match-up, and sees Rountree as “a dangerous guy with great power in his hand” against the former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion.

“Not taking away anything from anyone or thinking ‘Poatan’ is a superhero,” Oliveira said. “But I think ‘Poatan’ has a good chance knocking out any striker that fights him. He’s just too calm, too precise, too relaxed, to hit at the right time. I think that’s another person he will knock out to defend this belt. It’s hard for any striker to knock out ‘Poatan’ because he’s too calm and relaxed. He waits for the right moment to attack — and when he connects, his hands hit hard.”

As Pereira prepares to face Rountree at UFC 307, Lopes will serve as the backup fighter at the following pay-per-view later this month, ready to step in as a replacement for champion Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway at UFC 307 on Oct. 25. Meanwhile, “Do Bronx” Oliveira gears up in camp for a UFC 309 rematch with Michael Chandler, scheduled for Nov. 16 in New York.