The Actual Winners and Losers From UFC 307

It is a massive week in Salt Lake Metropolis.

Utah’s capital metropolis is just some days from formally getting into the NHL with a relocated workforce previously referred to as the Arizona Coyotes, however within the meantime, the Delta Middle received its capability crowd toes moist with one other in a sequence of visits from the MMA conglomerate.

Dana White and Co. touched down within the “Beehive State” for a fourth time general and a 3rd time in a pay-per-view setting with a 12-bout present on Saturday evening topped by a five-fight portion that features two championship matches and is being billed as UFC 307.

Gentle heavyweight king Alex Pereira and girls’s bantamweight title holder Raquel Pennington walked to the cage with jewel-encrusted belts in these two highlight bouts, with the previous assembly No. 8 contender Khalil Rountree Jr. and the latter squaring off with top-ranked contender and former champion Julianna Peña.

Pereira was on the invoice for the promotion’s final go to to the venue — UFC 291 in July 2023 — and made his 205-pound debut with a split-decision win over Jan Błachowicz. He was 8-1 in 9 octagonal fights and held titles at middleweight and lightweight heavyweight, successful his final three by KO in a mixed 7 minutes and 35 seconds.

The B/R fight workforce was in place to take all of it in and ship a real-time listing of the present’s most definitive winners and losers. Check out what we got here up with and drop a thought or two of your individual within the feedback part.

Alex Pereira had received his final three fights in lower than eight mixed minutes.

So Khalil Rountree Jr. exceeded expectations just by reaching the championship rounds in his bid for the sunshine heavyweight champion’s throne and pound-for-pound standing.

However man, oh man, did he pay for it.

The eighth-ranked challenger made it to the fourth spherical earlier than lastly succumbing to the heavily-favored champion, and he wore the proof of his resilience on a face with gashes on the bridge of the nostril and the appropriate cheek along with a jagged lower on the appropriate eyelid that sprayed the cage-side announce desk with blood at any time when Pereira landed a blow.

It lastly ended at 4:32 of the fourth when Rountree, already reeling from punishment and fatigue, was wobbled by a tough proper hand, drilled by a fast left-right mixture to the physique, and at last pushed to the ground with an uppercut that prompted an intervention from referee Marc Goddard.

“I can say that this was one of many hardest fights. I anticipated that,” Pereira mentioned. “He confirmed tonight why he is received a lot high quality.”

Rountree received the primary two rounds on all three scorecards because of a frenetic model that noticed him bobbing, weaving and leaping in with photographs that sometimes clipped the champion and made him uncomfortable if not broken. Pereira rallied within the third because the punishment on Rountree constructed up and he scored a major shot with a tough knee within the ultimate minute.

The win was his ninth in 10 UFC fights and made him simply the seventh champion within the promotion’s historical past to efficiently defend a title 3 times in a calendar 12 months.

And now, who is aware of?

Pereira has instructed a return to middleweight was attainable however mentioned he’d step apart whereas coaching associate Sean Strickland secures a subsequent title shot at 185. A transfer to heavyweight can also be instructed every now and then, however he wasn’t particularly aiming at that both.

“I can transfer as much as heavyweight,” he mentioned, “however this division is nice.”

The dominoes had been arrange. The struggle posters had been all however printed.

However simply as second-time champion Julianna Pena had the possibility to tug the set off on an prompt rivalry with Kayla Harrison to start her second reign, she pivoted again to an outdated quarry.

Pena emerged with a slender and questionable cut up resolution over Raquel Pennington to regain the bantamweight title she’d misplaced in her final octagonal look greater than two years in the past, then jumped within the callout time machine to counsel Amanda Nunes return to make it a trilogy.

The “Venezuelan Vixen” received the title for the primary time with a stunning end of Nunes at UFC 269 in late 2021, then misplaced it again to the “Lioness” of their UFC 277 rematch in 2022. Nunes fought once more in 2023 and retired quickly after, creating the title emptiness Pennington had crammed in January.

Harrison was on the display ready for Pena to substantiate she’d be subsequent in line for a shot, and the two-time Olympic judo champ mimicked a operating movement along with her fingers as Pena spoke, implying that the brand new champion was anxious to flee the concept of assembly her.

“I might like Nunes to stop ducking and are available again so we are able to settle it,” Pena mentioned. “We’re 1-1. I don’t consider she’s staying retired.”

Pennington, in the meantime, instructed she deserved the choice and the B/R card agreed, giving her rounds one, 4 and 5 for a 48-47 verdict. Choose Derek Cleary’s card was the identical, however was overruled by Sal D’Amato and Mike Bell, every of whom gave Pena the primary three rounds earlier than awarding Pennington the fourth and fifth.

“I felt like I received that struggle,” she mentioned. “This has been a well-recognized place for me. It was my fault letting it go to the judges.”

It wasn’t a spectacular victory, however Roman Dolidze did not care.

The rugged Georgian had his hand raised after a single spherical in opposition to Kevin Holland when the American pulled out with an obvious rib damage, however it did not cease him from embracing the heel function as he reacted to an sad pro-Holland crowd in Utah.

Dolidze lifted his fingers to his ears to ask for extra quantity from the disapproving followers and appeared out towards the lots as he drew every of his thumbs throughout his throat to sign his (no less than within the file books) aggressive superiority over Holland.

The damage occurred on the mat, the place Dolidze had stored Holland for the second half of the opening spherical after a takedown simply after the two-minute mark. Holland was profitable in limiting injury whereas in full guard, however a subsequent spin prompted what analyst Joe Rogan mentioned was a damaged rib.

Holland was punished on the bottom for the remainder of the spherical and the struggle resulted in between rounds when his lead nook man indicated give up.

“I do not need out,” Holland mentioned, “however f-k.”

Dolidze is 8-3 within the UFC and has received two straight.

“I feel I am on the high of the division,” he mentioned.

There’s an actual good likelihood Kayla Harrison turns into a UFC champion.

But it surely will not be as straightforward a march via the bantamweight division as probably the most hyperbolic of her legions of supporters may need thought earlier than Saturday.

Oh positive, the two-time Olympic judo champ and once-beaten (in 19 fights) MMA fighter took one other step towards UFC gold with a grinding resolution over second-ranked contender Ketlen Vieira, however there have been simply sufficient moments of adversity to make it appear barely much less inevitable.

Harrison was no less than stiffened, if not wobbled, by a pair of exhausting elbows from Vieira within the second spherical – and expressed some concern in her nook as her cutman labored on the blood and important swelling on her brow attributable to the strikes.

She received Vieira again to the bottom within the third and was deserving of the 2 30-27 and one 29-28 scorecards in her favor, however she conceded afterward, no less than briefly, that it wasn’t straightforward.

“She’s a killer. She’s No. 2 for a motive,” Harrison mentioned. “I got here right here to problem myself. That is the primary time I’ve ever bled inside a cage, so I give it up for her.”

It was Harrison’s second straight win since arriving from the rival PFL promotion, and, as soon as she allotted with plaudits for Vieira, she received again to her menacing self when calling for a title shot.

“Women,” she mentioned, “take pleasure in it when you can as a result of the queen is house and he or she’s coming for that f—ing gold.”

It had already been a bizarre judging evening, with a pair of cut up choices and an iffy unanimous resolution that might have simply as simply gone within the favor of its loser.

So it was no shock Joaquin Buckley needed no a part of Bruce Buffer studying scorecards.

The muscular southpaw could or not have been two rounds down heading to the ultimate 5 minutes in opposition to ninth-ranked welterweight Stephen Thompson, however it did not matter when he stored pursuing, stored swinging, and ultimately caught “Wonderboy” with the looping proper hand that dropped him to his knees and prompted a rescue from referee Mike Beltran at 2:17.

It was his fifth straight win at 170 kilos since a drop down from middleweight and all however ensures a one (or extra) spot leap into the highest 10 from his earlier slot at No. 11.

“We have been locking out all of the noise and the distractions and simply going to work,” mentioned Buckley, who’d gone 5-4 in his early run with the promotion from 2020 to 2022.

He’d been repeatedly tagged from distance by the sniper-like Thompson, who was additionally in a position to keep away from extended stays on the mat after every of Buckley’s 4 takedowns.

Buckley stepped up the assault within the third, nonetheless, and had Thompson in a retreating posture up till the decisive shot, which lifted Buckley to 10-4 as a professional and prompted a callout of former welterweight king Kamaru Usman.

“We’re going for that throne,” he mentioned. “Yet another earlier than I struggle for the belt.”

She’s simply 22 years outdated and the youngest lady on the UFC roster.

However simply because Iasmin Lucindo is youthful does not imply she’s inexperienced.

The Brazilian strawweight turned professional as a fresh-faced 15-year-old in 2017 and has been nearly utterly profitable from the phrase go, successful 16 of her first 21 bouts – and three of 4 within the UFC – earlier than climbing in with revered veteran Marina Rodriguez on Saturday.

And now, after quarter-hour with the promotion’s sixth-ranked contender, you’ll be able to go forward and name Lucindo a legit title contender, too.

Tabbed as a pre-fight favourite regardless of her deficits in age and elite-level opposition, the youthful fighter by no means appeared misplaced whereas sustaining aggression and dominating from in shut on the best way to a cut up however honest resolution within the penultimate preliminary match.

One decide gave Rodriguez two of three rounds however was overruled by the opposite two scorecards, every of which gave Lucindo a 29-28 benefit and matched the B/R tally.

Rodriguez landed 65 whole strikes to Lucindo’s 55, however was taken down 3 times in 4 tries and managed for almost 5 minutes whereas dodging Lucindo’s intermittent attempt at a heel-hook end. It is her second straight loss and dropped her to 7-5-2 within the UFC.

Being a Ryan Spann fan is an train in stopping and beginning.

The Texas-based 33-year-old was a fast winner over ex-title challenger Dominick Reyes at UFC 281 two years in the past and appeared prepared for a climb towards the highest of the sunshine heavyweight division, however adopted the massive win with three straight losses – together with two finishes.

So when he climbed in for a date with revered 41-year-old veteran Ovince Saint Preux in Saturday’s early prelim finale, it was tough to know what to anticipate.

Properly, if it is as much as Spann, it’s going to be loads simpler to foretell going ahead.

The 6’5″ slugger despatched his rival stumbling to the fence with a tough proper hand and instantly adopted by locking in a left-arm guillotine choke and spinning to the mat to lock it in and immediate a faucet from Saint Preux after solely 95 seconds.

“I needed to return in right here and be free,” Spann mentioned, “and I needed to point out the world my work.”

It bumped him to 8-5 within the UFC and 22-10 as a professional and was the ultimate struggle on an current contract for Saint Preux, who dropped to 27-18 and 15-13.

“We’re gonna get again to work and we’re gonna preserve going,” Spann mentioned.

Carla Esparza would be the least-celebrated two-time UFC title-holder in historical past.

Actually among the many OGs of the strawweight division and its champion as just lately as two years in the past, the 36-year-old from California mentioned goodbye earlier than a still-cavernous constructing with an iffy unanimous resolution loss to Tecia Pennington within the evening’s second bout.

Two judges gave Pennington two of three rounds and a 3rd gave her all three.

The B/R card noticed it the opposite manner, giving Esparza the primary and third rounds for a 29-28 rating.

Inactive within the cage since shedding her 115-pound belt for the second time in opposition to Zhang Weili at UFC 281 in 2022, Esparza gave start to a son, Donovan, earlier than returning for her swan tune look in opposition to Pennington, whom she’d crushed on The Final Fighter in 2014.

The little boy was within the viewers for the struggle and got here into the cage – decked out in a “Cookie Monster” costume to honor his mother’s nickname – to climb into her arms within the aftermath.

Esparza introduced earlier than Saturday’s present that it might be her ultimate struggle and he or she exits with a 20-8 general professional file and a 10-6 mark within the UFC since successful the strawweight belt for the primary time in her 2014 octagonal debut.

“You’ll be able to’t depart it to the judges,” she mentioned. “I assumed I received it.

“It has been an incredible journey these final 15 years. I would not have performed it some other manner.”

Generally, the early prelims are all about rising prospects.

However this time round in Salt Lake Metropolis, they seem to be a showcase for grizzled veterans.

The age vary for the six fighters throughout the evening’s first three bouts stretches from 33 to 41 years outdated and the sextet arrived with a mixed 66 wins in 120 UFC bouts.

Utah native Court docket McGee made the early arriving followers notably comfortable when he ended a three-fight skid and picked up his first submission win since UFC 121 in 2010, cranking the neck of 40-year-old welterweight foe Tim Means till he tapped at 3:19 of the primary spherical.

He’d misplaced six of eight and eight of 11 to fall to 10-12 with the promotion, however appeared rejuvenated this time following surgical procedure to right a persistent neck problem.

“There aren’t any phrases to clarify the gratitude I’ve for my household and my coaches,” an emotional McGee mentioned, shouting his dad and mom out on their forty fifth wedding ceremony anniversary. “I needed to start out the cardboard out on the appropriate foot and it appears like we did it, child.”

Principal Card

Alex Pereira def. Khalil Rountree Jr. by TKO (punches), 4:32, Spherical 4

Julianna Peña def. Raquel Pennington by cut up resolution (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)

Mario Bautista def. José Aldo by cut up resolution (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Roman Dolidze def. Kevin Holland by TKO (damage), 5:00, Spherical 1

Kayla Harrison def. Ketlen Vieira by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Joaquin Buckley def. Stephen Thompson by KO (punch), 2:17, Spherical 3

Iasmin Lucindo def. Marina Rodriguez by cut up resolution (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Alexander Hernandez def. Austin Hubbard by cut up resolution (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

Cesar Almeida def. Ihor Potieria by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Early Preliminary Card

Ryan Spann def. Ovince Saint Preux by submission (guillotine choke), 1:35, Spherical 1

Tecia Pennington def. Carla Esparza by unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Court docket McGee def. Tim Means by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:19, Spherical 1