The UFC returns to Salt Lake City for UFC 307 this weekend as face of the company Alex Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against number eight ranked contender Khalil Rountree Jr in the main event.
Alongside this huge clash there is a women's bantamweight title fight and grudge match between Raquel Pennington and Juliana Pena scheduled for the co-main event, while the likes of Jose Aldo, Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson and Kayla Harrison are also set to compete at the event.
We'll take a look at the main event and provide you with our best free UFC picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while watching an incredible fight card.
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UFC 307 information
- Saturday, October 5th 2024
- Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Light Heavyweight Championship (205lbs limit)
- 5 x 5 minute rounds
- 22:00 ET main card start time
Alex Pereira v Khalil Rountree Jr
Two-weight world champion Pereira has been very active since making his UFC debut, arriving as a Glory Kickboxing two-weight world champion, with a professional MMA record that now stands at just 11-2.
Poatan's debut in the company saw him knockout Andreas Michailidis with a flying-knee at UFC 268, before he earned a very tough unanimous decision win over veteran Bruno Silva. That earned him a title eliminator bout with Sean Strickland, whom he demolished with a trademark left hook in the first round.
That gave him a title shot against long-time rival Israel Adesanya and despite being down on the scorecards, the Brazilian staged a stunning comeback in the fifth-round to knock out the long-reigning champion and shock the world to become the champion. In the rematch just five months later though he was less successful, as The Last Stylebender claimed his title back with a vicious second-round knockout.
The defeat sparked Pereira to move up a division to 205lbs, where he fought former champion Jan Blachowicz in his first outing and claimed a controversial split decision win to earn a title fight against Jiri Prochazka which he won via knockout to become a two-weight world champion. He has since defended the championship twice, knocking out another former champion in Jamahal Hill in the first round of the UFC 300 main event, before head-kicking Prochazka into oblivion at UFC 303 in their rematch.
Rountree on the other hand has had a mixed time of things in the UFC, and comes into this fight with a professional record of 13-5 (1 no contest) which includes nine knockout wins.
He has had 15 fights in the organisation with nine victories and five defeats. The first of those losses came to Andrew Sanchez back in 2016, before he was submitted by Tyson Pedro in his next bout. He bounced back with stoppage wins over Daniel Jolly and Paul Craig, before a no contest against Michal Oleksiejczuk following a failed drug test by the Polish fighter. He stretched his unbeaten run to four with a sensational win over Gokhan Saki next, before getting knocked out by Johnny Walker.
He lost two of his next three fights, but has since gone on to win five in a row against Modestas Bukauskas, Karl Roberson, Dustin Jacoby, Chris Daukaus and Anthony Smith, including four knockouts, to earn himself this title shot.
Route to victory
This is a bit of a dream fight for Pereira, because on short-notice the last thing he would have wanted would have been to face off against a grappler looking to take him down and wrestle him. He's got the exact opposite of that in Rountree Jr, because he is a Muay-Thai fighter who has literally never shot a single takedown in his entire UFC career.
Pereira will be looking to do what he always does. He will implement that low calf kick and use his jab to the body to bring the guard of Rountree Jr down and set up his lethal left-hook that has put everyone to sleep over the years. But Rountree Jr's stance will help him to block those low kicks and allow him to explode and counter with great power.
There is a clear size difference between the two though and technically Pereira has the edge, as well as with his power. This is a horror match-up for Rountree because he's facing a better, more polished version of himself.
For the challenger to have success he has to be really patient and drag the fight out until the latter rounds. There is zero benefit to having a war with Pereira because he'll just end up on his back staring at the lights. He must use his own kicks and look to blitz forward in bursts while staying defensively sharp to find success.
Check out our review for Bovada sports betting here.
UFC Picks: Pereira to dominate again
Unfortunately for Rountree Jr, I can't see a way that he leaves Utah with the belt wrapped around his waist.
Pereira has been incredibly active in recent years and that means he is sharp both mentally and physically, and he has been knocking everyone out that has been put in front of him. His clear weakness is in the grappling, but Rountree simply cannot and will not go that route in this fight.
"Poatan" will be patient and pick him apart before landing an atomic bomb in the middle rounds to add yet another victim to his long list, and potentially set up a return to middleweight to fight Dricus Du Plessis or even go for a third belt at heavyweight.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
