Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. put on a show in the UFC 307 main event and earned high praise from their boss.

The battle between two elite strikers ended after Pereira busted up Rountree in the fourth round as several cuts resulted in blood just pouring down the challenger’s face and chest. With Rountree fading, Pereira seized on the opening by delivering a pair of brutal body shots followed by an uppercut that helped him secure his third knockout win in 2024.

UFC CEO Dana White took a victory lap after he heard some complaints that Rountree wasn’t deserving because of his ranking because he knew the stylistic matchup would deliver come fight night.

“Did this not play out the way everybody thought it would?” White said at the UFC 307 post-fight press conference. “Everybody knew. Everybody at first, ‘Oh, he’s ranked No. 8’ — you knew it was going to be a badass fight. You knew it was going to be a badass fight.

“You can never measure heart. You don’t know how that’s going to go. Now you know.”

While Pereira ultimately got the win, he had to bide his time during the first couple of rounds as Rountree came out gunning for the knockout.

White was incredibly impressed by Rountree’s willingness to stand in the pocket and exchange with arguably the most lethal striker in recent UFC history.

“He had no fear from the first round,” White said about the title challenger. “Khalil Rountree went in there and started going at it the minute the bell rang. No fear, no jitters, no nerves. Maybe he had some jitters and nerves, if he did, he didn’t show it.

“He went right in against one of the baddest dudes of all time and just started mixing it up with him. It was awesome.”

When it came to Pereira’s performance, White noted that “Poatan” used a brilliant strategy to dismantle Rountree by chopping away at his foundation through a series of crippling calf kicks.

After Rountree’s leg was chewed up and compromised, Pereira didn’t have to fear reprisal as much when he stepped in the pocket to trade punches. That led to Pereira slicing and dicing Rountree with his lead jab before he set up the fight-finishing combination against the cage.

“I felt like the difference was the low leg kick,” White said about Pereira’s strategy. “When he started calf kicking him, he was destroying that leg and [Khalil] was having trouble putting pressure on it and he was having trouble with his punching power, his movement everything. He systematically just started picking him apart.”

It turns out Pereira had his opponent perfectly scouted because White was reminded about a pre-fight feature where the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion laid out exactly what he needed to do to beat Rountree on Saturday night.

“When I watched the feature [on the fight], he said, ‘This guy hits hard, he’s tough, he’s this, he’s that and this guy has a dream but my fight IQ will win this fight,’” White said. “He said that in the combo feature and that’s exactly the way it played out.”

Considering the momentum that Pereira has built recently along with the highlight-reel finishes, he’s starting to put together the kind of résumé that rivals a number of UFC legends.

That includes Anderson Silva, who was arguably the most feared champion on the entire UFC roster during his reign over the middleweight division. Now it seems like Pereira is carrying around that same kind of invincible aura.

“What this guy has done is unbelievable,” White said about Pereira. “Not just if you want to compare him to [Anderson Silva], the way he’s done it. This guy destroys everybody.”

A lightweight banger is set for New York.

Charlie Campbell vs. Mauricio Ruffy has been added to UFC 309, the Nov. 16 event at Madison Square Garden.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. The bout was first reported Monday by Ag.Fight.

Campbell (9-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) steps into a slot on the promotion’s matchmaking schedule opposite Ruffy (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) that’s been vacant for a while.

The promotion has sought to book Ruffy since UFC 303 in June, but has struggled to find him a willing opponent. Ruffy was listed on the fight card graphic for the initial UFC 307 announcement but did not end up competing on the Oct. 5 card.

There’s much hype surrounding The Fighting Nerds‘ Ruffy, who teed up an electric promotional debut when he pummeled Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 301 in May. The win was his fifth in a row. Given his flashy style and 100 percent TKO rate in wins, Ruffy has drawn comparisons by many fans to Conor McGregor.

New York’s Campbell will fight in his home state as he looks to extend his winning streak to four. In his two UFC appearances to date, Campbell knocked out Alex Reyes and won a unanimous decision over Trevor Peek.

With the addition, the UFC 309 lineup includes:

• Champion Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
• Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira
• Paul Craig vs. Bo Nickal
• Eryk Anders vs. Chris Weidman
• Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
• Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• Charlie Campbell vs. Mauricio Ruffy
• Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura
• Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
• Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall
• Bassil Haffez vs. Oban Elliot

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

The verdict has been announced in Manchester City’s legal case against the Premier League over the league’s rules on commercial deals involving clubs’ owners.

City, who are owned by the Abu Dhabi-backed City Football Group, had some complaints upheld, with two aspects of the associated party transaction (APT) rules deemed unlawful by a tribunal.

But the Premier League says the tribunal rejected the majority of Manchester City’s challenges and “endorsed the overall objectives, framework and decision-making of the APT system”.

APTs are aimed at the value of sponsorship deals with companies linked to clubs’ owners.

This case is not directly related to the Premier League disciplinary commission which will hear 115 charges against City for allegedly breaching its financial regulations, some of which date back to 2009.

The tribunal – in a 175-page document – ruled that shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of APT rules and that some amendments made in February by the Premier League should not be retained.

In this arbitration process, Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton all acted as witnesses for City.

Witnesses for the Premier League included Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Brighton and West Ham.

Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves wrote letters in support of the rules.

SALT LAKE CITY – Mario Bautista beat Jose Aldo with a split decision Saturday on the main card at UFC 307 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Take a look inside the fight with Bautista, who ran his winning streak to seven fights and picked up the first win of his career against a former UFC champion.

Mario Bautista def. Jose Aldo

Oct 5, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Jose Aldo (red gloves) hugs Mario Bautista (blue gloves) after their fight during UFC 307 at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Result: Mario Bautista def. Jose Aldo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Updated records: Bautista (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), Aldo (32-9 MMA, 14-8 UFC)
Key stats: Bautista outstruck Aldo 90-75 and had nearly 50 percent of the fight in his favor for control time – a strategy that was criticized.

Bautista on the fight’s key moment

Oct 5, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Jose Aldo (red gloves) fights Mario Bautista (blue gloves) during UFC 307 at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

“The performance is what it is. I had to do what I had to do. I got caught in the second round. I got hit with something pretty good, and then I was able to drive through the fence. He has good takedown defense, but he cannot get off the cage. That’s not my fault. If that was me, I’m able to circle off the cage. Whatever the crowd thinks, what everyone thinks (by booing), that’s on him. He wasn’t getting off the fence (when we clinched), and I’m not going to let him off the fence. I try to take him down – he’s good right there. That’s something Merab (Dvalishvili) did (against Aldo), and and now look at him: He’s the champ.”

Bautista on Conor McGregor’s criticism

Jul 10, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Conor McGregor reacts following an injury suffered against Dustin Poirier during UFC 264 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

“Conor can kiss my ass and he can fight whenever he’s supposed to take the fight against (Michael) Chandler. Shut up.”

Bautista on what he wants next

Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista, January 2019, UFC Fight Night 143

“I was thinking (Cory) Sandhagen, but he’s coming off a loss, and I’m seven (wins) in a row now. … I really won’t talk sh*t to anyone. But just having the crowd boo me (at UFC 307) and everything, it kind of brought it out of me a little bit. If you give it to me, I’ll give it right back to you, if that’s what you guys want to see.”

To hear more from Bautista, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

UFC 307 images

Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje? It could have happened, or so Gaethje’s manager claims.

Ali Abdelaziz recently appeared on Submission Radio where he discussed a number of topics, including the possibility of a McGregor-Gaethje dream fight that may never happen. According to Abdelaziz, it’s McGregor who has been reluctant to accept the matchup.

“Let’s be real, Conor McGregor will never, will never, will never… he got offered this fight at least five times,” Abdelaziz said (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “At least five. He never wanted to have to do anything with Justin Gaethje. He said the reason he didn’t want to fight Justin was because Justin talked bad to him on Twitter and Instagram before and the history we have with him. He didn’t want to lose to our team, I guess.”

Gaethje recently told a similar story to TMZ Sports, though he claimed it was actually six times that the McGregor fight was offered and not signed by his adversary. At the time, Gaethje said McGregor couldn’t risk fighting him because “How you lose to me is not how you can lose and continue to be Conor McGregor. That’s a big risk for him and he’s always saying something, trying to take the light away from people fighting in the cage.”

Abdelaziz has a different take on it, alleging that fighters are told not to feud with McGregor on social media if they want to be booked against him.

“The last five, six years we offered Justin Gaethje so many times,” Abdelaziz said. “Never once, never once, this man—Even the UFC, told me this, ‘Hey, leave him alone. Don’t talk with him. He doesn’t like to fight people who talk bad to him on the internet.’ I promise you, he likes to be the one to start the talk and you retaliate.

“Why do you think [Michael] Chandler being so nice to him? Why? Because he was being told not to talk bad to Conor. Conor has to start talking bad and he talk bad back. He’s a weak mental midget. He’s soft like a marshmallow. And he’s a no-good, son of a bitch. This is what he is.”

The history between McGregor and Abdelaziz’s fighters dates back to McGregor’s ugly feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov. When the two fought at UFC 229, Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor by fourth-round submission, but then exited the cage afterwards to initiate a brawl with McGregor’s teammates. McGregor, Nurmagomedov, and several of their associates were fined and suspended as a result of the incident.

Post-fight shenanigans aside, Abdelaziz believes the win was do definitive for Nurmagomedov that the outcome forever changed McGregor.

“It’s been six years since Conor lost his soul to Khabib,” Abdelaziz said. “Khabib took everything away from him. He took his manhood. He took his soul. He was never the same. He will never be the same. He took everything away from this man. This man, every time he look at himself in the mirror, he think about a Dagestani guy who wears a papakha, a wig. This is incredible. He ruined him.

“Khabib said, ‘I’m going to change your face. I’m going to change your mental.’ Remember that? The UFC lost so much money because of Khabib. But this is the game. You have to fight the best and Khabib was the best at the same time and Conor fought the best and he got whooped.”

The issue with yellow cards pre-dates Maresca’s appointment in June.

Former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke last season about how “silly” bookings were a problem and showed video clips to his players to try to rectify the issue.

The Blues were punished last season for not adapting to new Premier League rules for dissent.

Jackson picked up 10 bookings last season but only one was for a foul, the others were for dissent, not retreating quickly enough for a free-kick and entering the field of play when a substitute.

Other players fell foul in similar situations and captain Reece James received two red cards – including one for two yellows – despite playing just 421 minutes.

The immaturity of Chelsea’s young squad may be another factor and with centre-back Thiago Silva having departed in the summer the average age of the group has dropped further to 23.4, according to data from Transfermarkt.

The Blues also have the lowest average height in the league, according to Transfermarkt, averaging just over 5ft 8in, which was another issue Pochettino complained about when in charge.

It perhaps leads to a tendency for players to look at other ways to try and impart their physicality on matches.

And under both Pochettino and Maresca Chelsea are firmly a possession-based team, trying to implement various pressing styles. That pressing can lead to bookings in transition phases and there is a tendency for teams operating these tactics to produce tactical fouls to stop counter-attacks.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body which governs referees in England, has also changed the rules in recent years, with an automatic yellow card now expected to be brandished in several situations.