UFC 307 delivered yet another night of fantastically violent finishes as well as a lot of head scratching split decisions. On the main card, there were multiple edge of your seat, competitive fights. In the co main event the belt changed hands in an interesting split decision. And in the final fight of the night, (which won fight of the night honors) Alex Pereira stopped Khalil Rountree Jr. in his tracks to retain the UFC‘s light heavyweight title. Most every fighter featured this week suffered a devastating loss and will have to seriously reevaluate where they go from here.
Khalil Rountree Jr.
Khalil Rountree Jr. made a valiant effort but was ultimately brutally beaten and finished by Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 307. Rountree Jr. entered the fight on Saturday night ranked at #8 in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Had he have won, he’d have been the lowest ranked fighter to win the belt in the modern era.
Khalil should fight Jamahal Hill in his next fight. Obviously, they both have been stopped by Alex Pereira recently and need to work back towards a title shot. They were slated to fight each other back in June but that fight fell thru after Rountree was temporarily suspended due to consuming a banned substance. The fight would work perfectly if Hill is down to wait till Khalil heals up.
Khalil’s next fight: Jamahal Hill
Raquel Pennington
Raquel Pennington was dethroned in an extremely controversial split decision in the co-main event of UFC 307 by Julianna Pena. Pennington was riding a six-fight win streak that dated back to her UFC 246 loss to Holly Holm in early 2020.
Pennington should take on Norma Dumont in her next fight who is ranked at #5. Dumont is 8-2 in the UFC and riding a five-fight win streak. Only the last two of those bouts were at 135lbs, and she has missed weight multiple times while with the UFC. It’s an interesting a physical matchup for Pennington and a good step back toward the title. No immediate rematch.
Raquel’s next fight: Norma Dumont
Jose Aldo
Jose Aldo lost his second fight back from his brief retirement on Saturday at UFC 307 to Mario Bautista. It was another controversial split decision that saw Bautista slowing Aldo’s dominant striking with constant takedown attempts.
Aldo entered the fight ranked at #10 in the UFC’s bantamweight division while Bautista was ranked at #11. Jose is now 1-1 since May when he ended his nearly two-year retirement from the UFC.
Aldo should fight Chris Gutierrez in his next fight. Guitierrez is 9-3-1 in the UFC and 2-2 in his last four. His losses in that time period were a pair of unanimous decisions to Pedro Munhoz and most recently Yadong Song. He’s unranked and ready for that opportunity for a big name on the next level. Perfect fight.
Jose’s next fight: Chris Gutierrerz
Kevin Holland
Kevin Holland lost a disappointing fight to Roman Dolidze when his coach stopped the fight after the first round because of an apparent rib injury. Holland entered the fight unranked as a middleweight but ranked as the #15 welterweight. Dolidze, on the other hand, entered the fight with a #10 ranking in the UFC’s middleweight division.
Kevin Holland should fight Jake Matthews in his next fight. As fun of a fight as it would be for Holland to try to fight Chris Curtis again, he should try to make a real run at 170lbs. Showing his skills against Jake Matthews who is 3-2 in his last five fights, makes sense. Matthews is a game opponent that produces finishes and has shared the octagon with some high-level guys like Li Jingliang and Sean Brady.
Kevin’s next fight: Jake Matthews
Ketlen Vieira
Ketlen Vieira was simply outclassed in a three round unanimous division loss to Kayla Harrison to open UFC 307 on Saturday. Vieira entered the fight ranked at #2 in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division while her opponent was ranked at #3. Vieira has now lost two of her last three fights with her last win coming against Pannie Kianzad in July of 2023.
Ketlen’s next fight should be against Macy Chiasson. Macy is currently the #4 ranked women’s bantamweight and the two were supposed to fight back in January. Vieira ended up withdrawing but Chiasson has won two in a row since then. Macy stopped both Pannie Kianzad and Mayra Bueno Silva most recently, at UFC 303.
Ketlen’s next fight: Macy Chiasson
