The fans in attendance didn’t like the result, but Mario Bautista tuned out the feedback to grind out a win over former UFC champion and Hall of Famer Jose Aldo.

The bantamweight bout was part of the UFC 307 main card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Bautista (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) didn’t give Aldo (32-9 MMA, 14-8 UFC) much space to operate throughout their 15 minute affair, leading to a split decision win (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Bautista came out aggressively with strikes to lead the dance early. Aldo responded with a few well-placed leg kicks before Bautista tested his takedown defense. Aldo kept the fight standing, denying his opponent a takedown throughout a pair of clinch situations along the fence.

The crowd livened up when the two traded strikes in the center of the cage, making for an entertaining end to Round 1.

Aldo ducked the kick 😤 #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/4eJJKW1L5v

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 6, 2024

Aldo busted open a cut over Bautista’s right eye just seconds into Round 2, prompting more heated exchanges. Bautista looked to slow things down with a takedown, but Aldo remained upright against the cage. After they separated, punches flew in fast exchanges, once again getting the crowd pumped.

With less than a minute to go, Aldo found home for a few combinations before Bautista looked for a single leg.

The close fight continued into the final round, where Bautista pressured the Hall of Famer both on the feet and in the clinch. The crowd didn’t appreciate the clinch work by Bautista, but that didn’t deter his approach, even after the referee broke them up.

Aldo found space to escape with about 40 seconds remaining, but his striking charges was cut short by another single leg attempt from Bautista.

MARIO BAUTISTA BEATS JOSE ALDO VIA SPLIT DECISION 👀 #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/5gWrPJoADF

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 6, 2024

The official decision was read as a split decision in Bautista’s favor, which prompted a chorus of boos from the Utah crowd.

With the result, Bautista extends his winning streak to seven by beating his toughest opponent to date. On his current run, the 31-year-old bantamweight has turned away Jay Perrin, Brian Kelleher, Benito Lopez, Guido Cannetti, Da’Mon Blackshear, Ricky Simon, and now Aldo.

Aldo, 38, stepped away from the UFC in 2022 to pursue boxing competition. After a 2-0-1 run, Aldo returned at UFC 301 in May, where he picked up a unanimous decision win over Jonathan Martinez. Unfortunately for “The King of Rio,” he exits Utah just one scorecard shy of a victory.

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

• 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.

Mario Bautista faced a hostile crowd in Utah after picking up the biggest win of his career with a split decision over Jose Aldo at UFC 307.

Using forward pressure, takedown attempts and working from the clinch kept Bautista busy over all three rounds as he avoided any seriously damaging strikes from Aldo. It was a back-and-forth fight throughout with two judges scoring the fight 29-28 for Bautista and the third official going 29-28 for Aldo.

That was still enough for Bautista to get the win, although the unhappy audience in Salt Lake City let him hear about it.

“My game plan was to keep a lot of movement, stay active, he’s very hard to take down,” Bautista said afterwards. “I wasn’t going to let those failed takedown attempts stop me. I knew it would be tough but I knew not to get down on myself. I’m focused on the task. I’m here to win. I’m here to beat the legend.”

Looking for a fast start, Bautista was busy right out of the gate, getting in Aldo’s face and pressing the action immediately. Aldo started having visions of his previous appearance in Utah when he spent most of the fight playing defense against the cage in the clinch with Merab Dvalishvili except this time it was Bautista applying a similar strategy, although he was definitely more willing to engage in the striking exchanges

Just before the first round ended, Aldo connected with a stiff right hand that definitely got Bautista’s attention, although he seemed undeterred as he headed back to his corner.

As the action restarted, Aldo snapped off a jab that opened a cut over Bautista’s right eye as blood began leaking down his face. That damage fueled Aldo to get more active on his feet but Bautista wasn’t backing down as the bantamweights continued trading strikes.

While Aldo was effective snapping off shots from the outside, Bautista showed good movement with quick leg kicks and then closing the distance to work from the clinch again. When the fighters separated, Aldo started swinging with wild power but Bautista didn’t back down as he fired back with a jumping knee that nearly landed.

Aldo continued to pepper away from the outside but Bautista was undeterred as he kept moving forward and looking for the takedown. Even after a separation, Bautista immediately dove for the legs again but Aldo shrugged him off as the fighters reset in the center.

With some room to work, Aldo uncorked some more big punches and Bautista once again closing the distance to bring the fight back to the clinch against the cage. Neither fighter really put together too much offense in the final round but it seems Bautista’s aggression and control against the cage helped him get the nod from the two judges he needed to earn the win.

Bautista has now rattled off seven straight victories with this latest win over Aldo almost certainly putting him into title contention conversations at 135 pounds.

Kevin Holland’s brain wanted more at UFC 307 but his body didn’t allow for it.

In a middleweight bout on Saturday’s main card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Roman Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) defeated Holland (26-12 MMA, 13-9 UFC) by TKO due to injury between Round 1 and 2.

Holland found success on the feet early, but when taken down suffered a rib injury when grappling with Dolidze. Initially, a wounded Holland covered up as Dolidze rained down punches from mount. Holland covered up, bobbed, weaved and blocked the strikes. He even barked up at Dolidze from the bottom.

When the end-of-round horn sounded and it was time for Holland to get up off the canvas, he winced in significant pain and complained to his corner that his ribs were not right. Coach Bob Perez asked his fighter to be honest and seemed uneasy about Holland returning to test himself in Round 2. Eventually, Perez told referee Jason Herzog that Holland was done.

Holland seemed at peace with that decision as he immediately went and shook hands with Dolidze, who was awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt by coach Eric Nicksick.

Roman Dolidze defeats Kevin Holland by TKO after Holland couldn’t continue due to a rib injury. #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/SapSMzowQH

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 6, 2024

Perez made a similar call in December 2022 when Holland severely broke his hand during a fight vs. Stephen Thompson. After the fight, Perez shed light on his role in protecting his fighters in an interview with MMA Junkie.

With the win, Dolidze has won back-to-back fights.

In defeat, Holland has lost three of his most recent four bouts.

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

• Roman Dolidze def. Kevin Holland via TKO (injury) – 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.

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Kayla Harrison is looking for gold after her latest win at UFC 307.

While she was the biggest favorite on the card, Harrison actually dealt with some adversity after Ketlen Vieira connected with a nasty elbow in the second round that caused significant swelling and bleeding on her forehead. That didn’t stop Harrison from getting the fight to the ground and punishing Vieira with devastating strikes to ensure she left Utal with the victory.

When it was over the judges scored the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 with Harrison moving to 2-0 in the UFC.

“My hat goes off to Ketlen,” Harrison said after her win. “She’s a killer. She’s No. 2 for a reason.

“Ladies, enjoy it while you can. Because the queen is home and she’s coming for that f*cking gold.”

Harrison showed confidence in her hands before working from the clinch to try for the takedown. To her credit, Vieira never allowed Harrison to get into position to get the throw or the inside trip before the fighters separated back to the center of the cage.

Unfortunately that early success fending off Harrison’s grappling gave Vieira a false sense of security. Vieira got a little too aggressive and Harrison immediately grabbed onto her and then tossing the Brazilian to the canvas.

Harrison immediately began raining down punches as she punished Vieira with her ground and pound but time ran out before she could potentially set up a fight ending sequence.

The action slowed in the second with Harrison struggling to set up her takedowns and Vieira actually connected with a well-timed elbow on the inside. There was significant swelling and a trickle of blood coming from Harrison’s forehead after eating the shot from Vieira.

As the third round started there was also blood coming from Harrison’s nose as she was wearing a lot of damage on her face but she continued moving forward until she secured another takedown. From there, Harrison began hammering away with punches and elbows with Vieira stuck on her back.

Harrison really began dropping bombs from the top while maintaining total control over Vieira, who just couldn’t find any room to escape. Time ticked away with Harrison still delivering punishing blows and Vieira content to survive as the fight came to a close.

While it probably wasn’t the statement she wanted to make, Harrison still beat a veteran bantamweight contender who has only been finished once in the UFC. The victory should easily position Harrison to get the winner of Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña to take another step towards her ultimate goal of becoming UFC champion.

All appeared to be going splendid for Stephen Thompson until he ended up face first on the canvas midway through Round 3 of his UFC 307 bout.

The party responsible for the violent jumping knockout was Joaquin Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC), who crumpled “Wonderboy” Thompson (17-7-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) with a jumping right hook that ended the fight at 2:17 of Round 3.

The welterweight bout closed out the UFC 307 preliminary card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Buckley was the aggressor for much of the three-round bout, as Thompson played role of matador to his bull. Thompson counter strikes landed on Buckley on a few occasions, but that didn’t deter the pressure put forth.

Thompson fended off many of Buckley’s takedown attempts and made it seemingly impossible to be controlled for any significant period of time.

Right after a big head kick landed for Thompson in the opening two minutes of the third round, Buckley finally found a home for the big shot. He jumped in the air and landed a big right hook that sent Thompson on all fours.

Joaquin Buckley 😬 pic.twitter.com/GRe2cua1g8

— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) October 6, 2024

After the win, which was Buckley’s fourth in a row, he called out former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Buckley defeated Andre Fialho, Alex Morono, and Nursulton Ruziboev in succession prior to Saturday’s fight.

Thompson, 41, has now lost back-to-back fights and four of his most recent five.

He knows who he wants next 👀@NewMansa94 wants Kamaru Usman for his next opponent! #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/yPXz7Chu4w

— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2024

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

• 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.