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UFC 307: Huge Alex Pereira Title Fight Headlines Salt Lake City Pay-Per-View

The light heavyweight champion is back.

Zain Bando

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

UFC 307 has its main event headliner, and it comes as a surprise to those who follow the promotional rankings religiously. Instead of Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1, 1 NC UFC), who holds the longest active winning streak at 205 pounds, it'll be Khalil Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5, 1 NC UFC) taking on reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC).

UFC CEO Dana White announced the news Friday morning in the "War Room" at UFC headquarters in Las Vegas, Nev. The card, which is still being finalized, will be held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 5, marking another trip to the West Coast for the promotion.

The fight will be Pereira's third title defense since winning the then-vacant title at UFC 295. Since then, Pereira has delivered devastating KOs of former champions Jamahal Hill and Jiří Procházka, as both wins took place in April and June, respectively.

Pereira has not lost since April of last year, which was a rematch against now-former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who competes Saturday night in the main event of UFC 305, opposite current champion Dricus Du Plessis.

As for Rountree, he was supposed to compete at UFC 303 but unknowingly tested positive, which briefly prevented him from returning to the Octagon. Given the current light heavyweight landscape, the UFC was left with few options than to book Rountree, currently ranked No. 8 and on a five-fight unbeaten streak dating back to Sept. 2021.

UFC 305: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya Fight Card Odds & Best Bets

The co-main event sees the return of Raquel Pennington, who makes her first defense of the bantamweight title against former champion Julianna Peña, who makes her first Octagon appearance since losing her belt to now-retired ex-champion Amanda Nunes.

The UFC's remaining schedule is coming together, as there are 15 events still to be completed by December, including stops in China and Edmonton, to name a few.

UFC 305: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya Full Prelim Fight Card Predictions

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Zain Bando

ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99