The next UFC pay-per-view fight card, UFC 307, takes place on Saturday, October 5th at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The stacked fight card features two title fights. In the main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira puts his title on the line against Khalil Rountree Jr. The evening's co-main event pits UFC women's bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington against former 135-pound titleholder Julianna Pena.

Pereira has been one of the UFC's most active fighters in 2024. UFC 307 marks his third title defense of the year. The former UFC middleweight champion captured the UFC's vacant 205-pound title with a TKO victory over Jiri Prochazka in November 2023.

Rountree was a surprise booking for UFC 307. The UFC veteran was coming off a suspension for drug testing and is ranked No. 8 in the division. Rountree is undefeated in his last five outings and has four TKO victories during that time.

Below we take a deep dive into the UFC 307 main event: Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

Careers

Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira (11-2) has accomplished a lot in 13 professional MMA fights. The soon-to-be 37-year-old transitioned to MMA full-time in 2021 after a long and successful kickboxing career in which he held the Glory Kickboxing middleweight and light heavyweight titles.

Pereira was 3-1 in MMA when he decided to focus all his energy on the sport. He signed with the UFC shortly after his last fight with Glory, and the Brazilian competitor made his UFC debut in November 2021, scoring a TKO victory over Andreas Michailidis that earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. This fight was Pereira's first and last appearance on a UFC preliminary card.

That win was followed by victories over Bruno Silva (decision) and Sean Strickland (first-round KO) and put Pereira in a middleweight title fight against then-UFC champion Israel Adesanya, a man Pereira defeated twice under the Glory Kickboxing banner had defeated.

Pereira increased his combat sports record against Adesanya to 3-0 at UFC 281 when he scored a fifth-round TKO over Adesanya in that November 2022 contest. Pereira's time with the UFC middleweight crown was short-lived, however, as Adesanya regained the title via a second-round knockout in the rematch in April 2023.

After his loss to Adesanya, Pereira moved up to 205 pounds. His first UFC light heavyweight fight was against former UFC champion Jam Blachowicz, which he won by unanimous decision. He then faced Jiri Prochazka for the vacant 205-pound title in the headlining fight of UFC 295, which took place at Madison Square Garden in November 2023. Pereira became a two-division champion that night, scoring a second-round TKO victory over the former UFC light heavyweight champion.

Pereira made his first title defense at UFC 300 when he knocked out Jamahal Hill in the first round. He followed that with a second-round TKO win over Prochazka in their rematch at UFC 303 in June.

Pereira has nine knockout wins and two decision wins. His two MMA losses came by stoppage, he lost his fight against Adesanya in 2023 by knockout and he lost by submission in his first professional MMA fight, which took place in 2015 under the Jungle Fight banner.

Khalil Rountree Jr.

Khalil Rountree Jr. (13-5-0-1) moved to the UFC in July 2016 when a loss to Andrew Sanchez in the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter dropped him to 4-1 as a pro.

Rountree's loss to Sanchez was followed by a submission loss to Tyson Pedro. However, after this setback, Rountree went 3-0-0-1 and scored three knockouts in his wins. A knockout loss to Johnny Walker, whom Rountree would most like to beat, ended his unbeaten streak.

A decision win over Eryk Anders in April 2019 put Rountree back in the win column, but that was followed by a TKO loss to Ion Cutelaba and a decision setback to Marcin Prachnio.

In September 2021, UFC matchmakers booked Rountree against Modestas Bukauskas. He won that fight by TKO. This win was the first of five straight wins for Rountree.

Rountree was scheduled to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill in June, but a self-reported failed drug test knocked him off that card. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Rountree for 4.5 months because of that failed drug test.

Rountree has nine knockout wins and four decision wins. His losses came by knockout (two), submission (one) and decision (two).

UFC 307 Betting Odds: Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

Pereira opened the UFC 307 main event as the -535 betting favorite. He's slipped a bit as fight night gets closer. Today, the UFC light heavyweight champion is listed at -520. Meanwhile, Rountree opened as a +400 underdog. Today it is listed at +350.

Significant statistics

Pereira averages 5.23 significant hits per minute with 63 percent accuracy. He absorbs 3.51 significant strikes per minute with a 51 percent defense rate.

Rountree lands 3.84 significant hits per minute with 39 percent accuracy. His attack defense is 50 percent and he is hit 4.00 times per minute.

UFC 307 Main Event Betting Tips and Predictions

The betting tip is that Alex Pereira retains his UFC light heavyweight title with a knockout win over Khalil Rountree Jr. However, the current odds make Rountree an interesting value bet for a knockout win of his own.

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