UFC 307 takeaways: Pereira cements case for Fighter of the Year

Alex Pereira retained the UFC light heavyweight title for the third time Saturday, defeating Khalil Rountree Jr. via fourth-round TKO in the UFC 307 main event in Salt Lake City.

In the co-headliner, Julianna Pena eked out a split-decision win over Raquel Pennington to reclaim the women's bantamweight championship.

Here are three takeaways from the pay-per-view event.

Pereira the front-runner for Fighter of the Year

Pereira has singlehandedly carried the UFC on his shoulders in 2024. From agreeing to headline UFC 300 on relative short notice after the promotion was out of options, to saving the day at International Fight Week when Conor McGregor got hurt, to agreeing to fight Rountree when there were no other suitable headliners for UFC 307, Pereira has been an absolute dream for Dana White and Co. over the past 12 months.

The fact that Pereira went 3-0 in a span of less than six months - scoring knockouts of two former champions, Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka, and now Rountree - is ridiculous. We're witnessing an all-time great run in mixed martial arts. Moreover, this latest victory nearly cements Pereira as the Fighter of the Year. If we were already at the end of December, there would be no debate.

UFC 300 doesn't feel too long ago, right? Well, only one other main-card fighter - Cody Brundage - has stepped into the Octagon since that event in April. Pereira has competed twice, in title fights nonetheless. He's the most active champion in the promotion and one of the most active fighters period. The win over Hill cemented Pereira as the world's top 205-pounder, and the win over Prochazka proved that his first victory over the Czech fighter in 2023 was no accident. The triumph over Rountree doesn't do quite as much for Pereira's stock, but it was a blood-and-guts affair in which "Poatan" had to dig deeper than usual - an impressive showing in the end. The final two minutes were a masterclass in how to methodically and violently break an opponent.

As of now, no one has accomplished more this year than Pereira.

The only two men standing between Pereira and the Fighter of the Year trophy are Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway, who meet for the featherweight title at UFC 308 on Oct. 26. Topuria knocked out former longtime champ Alexander Volkanovski in February, and a win over Holloway would also give him a strong argument to be the Fighter of the Year. Meanwhile, Holloway is coming off that iconic last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, and beating an undefeated fighter to become a two-time champ and go 2-0 in 2024 would also give the Hawaiian a case.

Pereira will probably still be the front-runner after Topuria-Holloway, but even if he isn't, he'll undoubtedly go down as 2024's most important fighter to the UFC.

Rountree's stock goes up in defeat

Hardcore MMA fans have been familiar with Rountree since he debuted in the UFC in 2016, but many wouldn't have been able to pick him out of a lineup until Saturday. The reality is Rountree has been a middling contender his entire career, now holding a 9-6 (1 NC) record in the promotion. He's a dangerous knockout artist with a ton of potential, but he's had mixed results and been unable to crack the top five.

His unexpected title shot against Pereira quickly turned into a beatdown in the fourth round; there's no doubt about that. But for a while, Rountree had the world wondering if another Salt Lake City stunner was in the cards. He won the first two rounds and by doing so proved he's a contender in this division.

Furthermore, the heart and toughness Rountree showed as Pereira hunted him down, looking for the kill, was pretty surreal. Take a look at the damage he endured:

Not too often does a fighter's stock go up when they lose, but Rountree's absolutely did.

Pena-Harrison was best-case scenario for UFC

The UFC should be thrilled that the judges gave Pena a victory over Pennington - and the women's bantamweight title - by the slimmest of margins.

Love her or hate her, Pena is the bigger name of the two and will sell a fight against the next challenger, Kayla Harrison, better than Pennington would. In fact, Pena and Harrison went back and forth at the UFC 307 prefight press conference last week, so there's already a bit of a feud - and video evidence! - that the promotion can use to hype up the impending 135-pound title bout.

Though nothing is set in stone, Harrison seemingly earned a title shot with a unanimous decision victory over No. 2-ranked contender Ketlen Vieira in the UFC 307 main-card opener. Harrison, a former two-time PFL champion who's now 2-0 in the Octagon, is almost guaranteed to be the betting favorite against Pena - that's how highly regarded she is among MMA pundits. The top of the women's bantamweight division is in desperate need of a star like Harrison, and the UFC lucked out in the sense that her title shot will come against Pena.