Defending champ Alex Pereira wins by TKO at UFC 307

Alex Pereira finished Khalil Rountree Jr. at 4:32 of the fourth round via TKO to retain his light-heavyweight belt in the main event of UFC 307 on Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.

With Rountree’s stamina fading late in the fourth round, Pereira landed two body shots and followed with an uppercut, which sent Rountree to the mat. The referee stopped it immediately after the knockdown.

Pereira became the seventh fighter in UFC history to successfully defend his title three times in the same calendar year. Pereira landed more than twice the number of strikes (129-62) and significant strikes (127-61) than Rountree, who had won his past five matches heading into Saturday.

Despite the lopsided loss, Roundtree nearly knocked down Pereira in the second round. Roundtree ducked Pereira’s kick and landed a right hook that sent the defending champ to one knee. But Pereira (12-2) quickly regained his balance and went back on the attack.

“I was just really excited to come in here and really just embrace the moment,” said Roundtree, who fell to 14-6.

Julianna Pena (13-5) recaptured the women’s bantamweight title by earning a split decision against Raquel Pennington (16-10).

The judges scored the fight 48-47, 47-48 and 48-47 in favor of Pena, who was fighting for the first time since she lost by unanimous decision against Amanda Nunes in July 2022. Pena landed more total strikes (123-112) but the two fighters had the same number of significant strikes (92) as Pennington saw her six-fight unbeaten streak come to an end.

Mario Bautista (15-2) beat Jose Aldo (32-9) by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) in a bantamweight bout. Bautista has won seven fights in a row while Aldo, 38, is 1-1 since returning to MMA in May after his brief boxing stint.

Roman Dolidze (14-3) defeated Kevin Holland (26-12) after their middleweight fight was stopped following the first round due to a gruesome rib injury. It was Dolidze’s second win this year and sixth in his past eight outings.

Kayla Harrison (18-1) defeated Ketlen Vieira (14-4) by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in a bantamweight bout.

–Field Level Media