Jose Aldo and Mario Bautista meet Saturday on the main card of UFC 307 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom. 

Last event: 2-4
UFC main cards, 2024: 81-72-3

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista UFC 307 preview

The Aldo coming-out-of-retirement tour continues, and the former longtime featherweight king has his sights set on the bantamweight crown. But to get himself into consideration, Aldo (32-8 MMA, 14-7 UFC) will have to dispatch Bautista (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who’s ranked one spot behind him at No. 11 in the official UFC rankings. … Aldo returned from a nearly two-year MMA hiatus this past February with a sterling performance in a unanimous decision win over Jonathan Martinez. … Bautista has been on a roll for the past two-plus years, having won six fights in a row. He’s coming off a unanimous decision win over Ricky Simon this past January.

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista UFC 307 expert pick, prediction

Serving as an action-filled offering at bantamweight is a fun fight between Aldo and Bautista.

Despite being the 20th time that Aldo has come out of retirement, the former featherweight champion and pound-for-pound GOAT has looked incredible in this most recent late-career renaissance.

Bautista, on the other hand, is an MMA Lab product that I and many others have had their eyes on for some time. Although Bautista initially stepped on the scene as a flashy switch-stance striker, the longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt has found some solid success by integrating more wrestling into his approach.

That said, with Aldo using his vaunted takedown defense to arguably beat now-champion Merab Dvalishvili the last time he fought in Utah, I have a hard time doubting the Brazilian legend – even at this point of his career.

I won’t be shocked if Bautista can grind out a decision, but I’ll pick Aldo to find an empathic counter hook that leads to a stoppage in Round 2.

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista UFC 307 preview odds

The oddsmakers and the public are slightly favoring the American fighter, listing Bautista -150 and Aldo +118 via FanDuel.

Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista UFC 307 start time, how to watch

As the featured bout, Aldo and Bautista are expected to walk out to the cage at approximately 11:15 p.m. ET (9:15 p.m. locally in Salt Lake City). The fight will stream on ESPN+.

Much like how she dominated the Olympics en route to two gold medals, Kayla Harrison has long desired to be considered the absolute best in the world when it comes to her fighting career.

Harrison doesn’t want to just win championships, she want to retire as the greatest fighter in the history of the sport, and she knows there are still a lot of obstacles left to hurdle before she can earn that distinction. Perhaps the fastest path to her goal would be winning a UFC title and then welcoming former champion Amanda Nunes back to the competition after “The Lioness” teased a potential return from retirement. Nunes called it a career in 2023, retiring with UFC bantamweight and featherweight titles still on her shoulders.

While they were once teammates under the same coaches at American Top Team in Florida, Harrison knows beating Nunes would add a huge accolade to her record and it’s a challenge she welcomes.

“Selfishly, I hope that she does [return],” Harrison told MMA Fighting. “I have no beef with Amanda other than her trying to throw American Top Team under the bus. Don’t f*ck with my homies.

“But listen if she’s happy and living her dream, that’s great but selfishly, I would love for her to come back so I can put all the noise to rest.”

In her final two fights in the UFC, Nunes avenged a past loss to Julianna Peña to reclaim her bantamweight title and then ran roughshod over Irene Aldana in what was ultimately Nunes’ final appearance with the promotion.

The Peña rematch came seven months after Nunes suffered a shocking upset loss to the “Venezuelan Vixen.” Nunes surrendered her UFC title after being submitted via rear-naked choke in the second round. That was the first time Nunes had faced defeat in six years. Things went much differently in the second fight, with Nunes brutally punishing Peña for five rounds before winning a lopsided decision, with one judge giving Nunes a 50-43 scorecard.

In the long run, Harrison hopes she gets the chance to beat both of them but she acknowledges that as much as Peña deserves credit for her win, she still considers Nunes the better fighter and the bigger addition to her resume.

“I’m never going to take that win away from Julianna,” Harrison said. “It was her night. Kudos to her. Lightning rarely strikes the same place twice. I think that Amanda is the better fighter and who knows what happened. I’m excited to see how Julianna looks in this fight [against Raquel Pennington] — if she makes it to the fight.”

While Harrison has lofty plans for her future, none of that happens if she slips up in her next fight against Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307. That’s why every conversation about the title, Nunes, or anybody else ends up with Harrison once again bringing up Vieira’s name as the only one that matters right now.

“We’ll see what happens,” Harrison said. “I’m focused on Ketlen Vieira, Oct. 5, UFC 307, 135 pounds, one step closer to the goal.

“One step at a time. Ketlen first, then the title and then Amanda if she wants some.”

Liverpool boss Arne Slot questions why his side were playing in Saturday’s early kick-off following a Champions League match on Wednesday after losing Alexis Mac Allister and goalkeeper Alisson to injuries during a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.

MATCH REPORT: Crystal Palace 0-1 Liverpool

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Legacy Fighting Alliance kicked off its start of fall summer with some scintillating September stoppages.

The promotion had events in California and Minnesota, and had a remarkable finishing rate near 70 percent across 18 fights. In fact, the first six pro fights at LFA 193 ended in finishes, and that was after three stoppages in four fights on the amateur portion to open the event.

Check out the best stoppages from LFA’s two September shows with slams, chokes, armbars, heel hooks, ground and pound and more.

You can watch the highlights in the video above, courtesy of LFA.

Chris Curtis is set for a 2025 return to the UFC octagon.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotions plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Curtis will face Roman Kopylov in a middleweight bout at the UFC’s Fight Night event on Jan. 11 at a location and venue yet to be announced.

Curtis is set to make his 10th promotional appearance and looks to bounce back in the win column following a split decision loss in a Fight of the Year contender against Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 90 in April. “The Action Man” returns to action after suffering a torn hamstring in the fight, and was slated to face Kevin Holland on Saturday’s UFC 307 card before being forced to withdraw.

After having his four-fight win streak snapped by Anthony Hernandez at UFC 298 in February, Kopylov returned to the win column three months later with a split decision win against Cesar Almeida at UFC 301. During his previous winning streak, Kopylov finished all four of his opponents.