As long as you overlooked some horrid officiating, UFC 307 turned out to be an exciting night for fight fans.
As advertised, the main event of Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. was a banger. “Poatan” would come away with the win, but not before being forced to deal with some early adversity. That included eating a head kick and dealing with a knockdown in the same round early in the bout. But by round four, the Brazilian’s “chama” was in full force, and he began lighting up Rountree, finally digging the body and then going upstairs to put the challenger away.
The fight delivered in entertainment value, and made up for an uneven UFC 307 co-main. Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Pena started slow and felt like a snoozer through the first 15 minutes. Things opened up in the championship rounds, with Pennington landing a head kick then scoring a knockdown in the fourth. That seemed to have the score even between the two heading to round five, with the champ seemingly doing just enough to get the nod. Yet two judges scored the fight 48-47 for Pena, who reclaimed gold with something of a questionable decision. It was far from the only officiating flub on the night, as fans booed both Tecia Pennington (who got a win over Carla Esparza despite a late comeback from the ex-champ) and Mario Bautista (who claimed a win over Jose Aldo on the scorecards).
And then there was whatever happened in Cesar Almeida vs. Ihor Potieria, a fight in which Potieria absorbed no less than four eye pokes and a low blow, all of which went unpunished. Alemida would win a unanimous decision in that one.
Following UFC 307 tune in above for the night’s post-fight press conference.
