Good Chama: Alex Pereira Hangs onto Light Heavyweight Title at UFC 307

Khalil Rountree’s face looked like a man who had been attacked by a group of people Saturday night at the Delta Center. Rountree’s eyelid was swollen shut with a large bloody gash on the top of it. Right below his closed eye was another small gash.
Rountree’s nose had a deep cut shaped like an X. That’s what fighting powerful Brazilian striker Alex Pereira will do to a man. Pereira took longer to put Rountree away than many people anticipated.
Looking at MMAfighting latest news, I anticipated Pereira putting Rountree away early. Rountree hadn’t fought much championship-level competition, but he proved his game to fight Pereira. Pereira pepped Rountree for four rounds, finally scoring the knockout in the fourth round thanks to several stiff body shots.
While UFC 307 was a lackluster event overall, Pereira’s knockout continued his amazing run since joining the promotion in 2021. He has now defended the light heavyweight title belt three times. Following the fight, he said he has no desire to return to middleweight and wants to stay where he’s at or go to heavyweight.
Peña Regains Title in Controversial Split Decision

The scorecards were all over the place Saturday night. While the judges made several strange decisions, the most consequential one came in the co-main event. Julianna Peña recaptured the women’s bantamweight championship with a split-decision win over Raquel Pennington.
Judges Sal D’amato and Mike Bell each scored the fight 48-47 for Peña. Derek Cleary scored the fight 48-47 for Pennington. The stats are tight.
Pennington scored the only knockdown of the fight. The significant strikes were even, with each woman landing 92. Pennington attempted a much higher volume of strikes according to the best MMA news site.
Bautista Wins the Battle, Loses with the Boss

Mario Bautista added a nice win to his resume by earning a split-decision win over former featherweight champion José Aldo. But how Bautista earned the win didn’t earn the admiration of the fans or UFC CEO Dana White. White criticized the judging and referee, Mike Beltran, during this fight.
White believed Bautista was attempting to stall with his grappling. While Beltran broke the fights up once for Bautista’s inactivity, when the fight resumed, Bautista returned to his previous strategy. Aldo, who is a fan favorite, had a lot of the arena behind him, amplifying the angst over the slow-moving fight.
Kevin Holland Takes Rough Loss
The searing pain Kevin Holland felt at the end of the first round was largely thanks to Roman Dolidze. Dolidze had Holland on the mat in the first round, landing stiff ground and pound. But during the round, Holland felt something wrong in his midsection.
When Holland met with his corner in between rounds, Holland said he had broken ribs and couldn’t continue. While this drew some criticism from Conor Mcgregor, of all people, it was the right decision for Holland to stop fighting.
Harrison Doesn’t Make Much of an Impression
Former two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison is expected to be on track to challenge for the bantamweight championship. But Harrison didn’t impress many MMA news websites with her performance against Ketlen Vieira. Harrison mostly controlled the fight in the clinch.
Harrison attempted to control the fight with her grappling but had a hard time getting Vieira to the mat. While Harrison won a unanimous decision, she didn’t put on her best performance. With Pennington and Peña being a controversial decision, it will be interesting to see if the UFC gives Pennington a rematch or if Harrison will be next in line for the belt.
Buckley Stops Wonderboy
Joaquin Buckley has found a home at welterweight. With a vicious third-round knockout of former title challenger Stephen Thompson, Buckley moved to 5-0 in the weight class in the UFC. Previously, Buckley had fought at middleweight.
Thompson didn’t make things easy for Buckley. Thompson fights out of a karate stance and can throw kicks from anywhere. While Buckley got clipped a few times, he was able to take control of the fight by the second round.
In the third round, Buckley waded in and caught Thompson cleanly on the chip to stop the fight.
Tiny Tornado Gets Back on Track
Tecia Pennington made history when she competed in the octagon in Salt Lake City. She and Raquel became the first couple to compete in the same UFC event. While Raquel lost a difficult decision, Tecia was able to bring home a win.
Tecia fought former champion Carla Esparza. While Esparza ended the fight in top position, landing ground-and-pound, that wasn’t the story of the fight. Tecia was a more efficient striker, keeping the former champion on her heels.Esparza, who was joined in the octagon following the loss by her son in a Cookie Monster costume, was the inaugural champion in the strawweight division and retired with a 19-8 record.
Keep Your Fingers Down, Please
Ihor Potieria has a legitimate beef about his fight and how it was officiated. Potieria likely wouldn’t have won his middleweight bout even if it was officiated properly, but it was tough to watch. Potieria was on the receiving end of several rough eye pokes from Cesar Almeida.
While the referee eventually warned Almeida, despite the high number of fouls, a point wasn’t taken. Deducting a point likely would have been an appropriate penalty.
Here are the results from the other fights on the card not mentioned above:
Women’s strawweight, Iasmin Lucindo win by split decision over Marina Rodriguez, 29-28 (Lucindo x2), 29-28 Rodriguez
Lightweight, Alexander Hernandez win by split decision over Austin Hubbard, 29-28 (Hernandez x2), 30-27 Hubbard
Light heavyweight, Ryan Spann win by submission (guillotine choke) over Ovince Saint Preux, Round 1 1:35
Welterweight, Court McGree win by submission (neck crack) over Tim Means, Round 1 3:19
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By Dean McHugh.