UFC 307 crashed last night (Sat., Oct. 5, 2024) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Alex Pereira retained his Light Heavyweight title by retiring Khalil Rountree with a bout of punishment in the fourth round (see it again here). In the co-main event Julianna Pena became women’s bantamweight champion again after a narrow defeat of the now former champion, Rachel Penningtonvia split decision.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Biggest winner: Alex Pereira

“Poatan” got off to a somewhat slow start (by his standards) in his main event against Rountree, getting tagged and dropping out early, though he eventually found his groove. By the time the third round arrived, Pereira was starting to find his range and began teeing off on Rountree, who was a bloody mess in round four, although he refused to back down and showed plenty of courage before the champion tapped him with a number of blows to the body which forced him to be excluded. For Pereira, this is now his third straight title defense, further adding to his ever-impressive resume and legacy, which includes five straight wins, four of which via KO/TKO. He committed to staying at 205 pounds for now, but an interim heavyweight title shot is fighting back Tom Aspinall certainly sounds tempting.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Second place: Julianna Pena

Look, it wasn’t a dominant victory, but in the end it was a championship victory for “The Venezuelan Vixen.” And that wasn’t easy, as Pennington had her shining moments and made it difficult for Pena to regain her belt. It could have gone either way, but Pena did enough on the judges’ scorecards to once again reach the pinnacle of the sport. Perhaps just as importantly, she has likely secured a major title fight for herself Kayla Harrisonwho won earlier in the evening from Boiler Vieira. And yes, this is despite the fact that Pena is still trying to lure Amanda Nunes out of retirement.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Honorable Mention: Joaquin Buckley

Don’t look now, but Buckley is on his way to his first-ever Top 10 ranking after defeating Stephen Thompson in the third and final round of their 170-pound clash (watch it again here). It was “New Mansa”’s fifth straight win – three via knockout – inside the Octagon, one of the better current winning streaks in the division. A few more impressive wins like that, and don’t be too surprised if you hear his name in the championship conversation.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Biggest Loser: Stephen Thompson

There comes a point when you start to wonder if a fighter has lost a step or three, and if he/she will ever return to the form that made him/her relevant. Once known as an attacking machine capable of knocking down your block with his dangerous karate kicks, Thompson has looked anything but that over the past three years, as he has lost four of his last five fights, and his last two, including his knockout defeat at the hands of Joaquin Buckley. He will easily fall out of the Top 10, which probably should have happened a while ago, and the big fights will probably never be offered to him again in the future. That’s not to say he can’t turn things around, but the 41-year-old has a tough road ahead of him if he wants to do so. Maybe the promotion wasn’t so wrong to put him on the undercard?

Click for full UFC 307 results, coverage and highlights HERE.