The UFC returned to Salt Lake City tonight for a loaded pay-per-view card headlined by two championship contests. Questionable officiating and judging couldn’t overshadow some incredible fights, including those two title bouts and a some other highlights throughout the night.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the night and break down the three fights we looked at in our UFC 307 preview.
Prelim Highlights
Marina Rodriguez and Iasmi Lucindo put on a show for the fans in the penultimate prelim before the main card. The story of the fight was Lucindo’s grappling advantage and Rodriguez’s inability to compete in that realm. However, late in the third round, Lucindo lost the mount position because she illegally pressed her chin into her opponent’s eye, a foul you don’t often hear called in the octagon. With a chance to get back to her feet, Rodriguez attacked aggressively and landed some big shots in an attempt to steal the fight. She seemed to hurt her opponent, but Lucindo was once again able to use her grappling to grind out the win.
In the featured prelim, welterweight contenders Stephen Thompson and Joaquin Buckley stepped into the cage for a fairly big opportunity for both fighters. Buckley wasted little time imposing his will as the bigger, more explosive athlete, scoring a big takedown. Thompson quickly worked back to his feet though and was able to keep the fight as a striking battle. Buckley landed some good shots, but Thompson also consistently landed counter strikes, as he has done throughout his long UFC career. It was a back and forth battle into the third round when Buckley started looking for the finish. Thompson continued to move and stay mostly out of Buckley’s range until Buckley brought the pressure and landed a huge right had up against the cage that dropped Thompson instantly. It was a huge knockout win for Buckley, who should be looking at a very big fight his next time out. In fact, he called out former champion Kamaru Usman.
Main Card Highlights
Few fighters have ever come into the UFC with as much hype as Kayla Harrison. The olympic gold medalist in judo impressed in her debut against Holly Holm and tonight she kept that momentum going in a meeting with Ketlen Vieira. Harrison showed some improvement in her striking game but it was once again, as expected, her dominant grappling skills that earned her a fairly one-sided decision victory. Vieira did land a big elbow in the second round that split Harrison open, so she did have to face some adversity, but it was another dominant performance. Harrison could be looking at a title shot her next time out.
Welterweight contender Kevin Holland moved up to the middleweight class once again to take on Roman Dolidze. Holland looked very good in the early going, controlling the standup battle. Eventually though, Dolidze caught a kick and scored a takedown to take an advantageous position. In a scramble attempt, Holland seemed to suffer a rib injury and immediately let us know it. Dolidze wound up in mount and and landed some violent ground and pound but Holland impressively survived the round. In his corner, Holland’s coach made the call to stop the fight, giving Dolidze a TKO victory .
Mario Bautista def. Jose Aldo
The energy changed when Jose Aldo began his walkout to the octagon. The UFC Hall of Famer is still a crowd favorite and the Salt Lake City crowd was very much in his corner for this bout with Mario Bautista. Aldo quickly found himself in unfamiliar territory though as Bautista pushed the pace immediately and brought pressure constantly. Still Aldo showed off his legendary takedown defense and seemed to land the more impactful shots on the feet. Bautista’s relentless pressure took Aldo out of his game though and it was clear that Bautista was the aggressor for three rounds. Two of the three judges awarded Bautista a split decision victory, much to the dismay of the crowd. While it was a very close fight, this s a big win for Bautista, who should expect a highly ranked opponent his next time out.
My pick: Aldo via decision
Result: Bautista via decision
Julianna Pena def. Raquel Pennington
There was som bad blood between these two women in the co main event, dating all the way back to their time on The Ultimate Fighter. Pennington figured to have the striking advantage coming in while Pena figured to have the grappling advantage and that would dictate their respective gameplans. Well, that was exactly the case and we saw it play out for both fighters early. Pennington scored some points in the striking game in the first round but Pena scored big takedowns and took the champ’s back in both the second and third rounds. With her back against the wall going into the championship rounds, Pennington battled back and managed to knock Pena down. Her striking advantage carried through the fifth round and to the final bell and it looked as though she had successfully defended her title. However, two out of three judges saw things differently and awarded a split decision victory to Pena, crowning her the women’s bantamweight champion for the second time. After the fight, when asked about potentially facing Kayla Harrison, Pena instead called for Amanda Nunes to return as her first challenger.
My pick: Pennington via decision
Result: Pena via decision
Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree
This main event started off with one of the most intense staredowns in recent memory as Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree never broke their eye contact from the moment they both stepped into the cage. That intensity carried into the fight as it just felt that either of these guys could end the fight in the blink of an eye. Pereira was clearly the bigger and stronger fighter while Rountree was the faster. The challenger used that speed advantage to dart in and out, landing the occasional shot. Pereira though was able to hit Rountree with some good shots, specifically some brutal lead calf kicks that really started to pay off in the second round. But late in the second, Rountree landed a couple of shots, including a big head kick that drew a big reaction from the champ. Pereira turned it on in round three though as Rountree started to fade. A couple of huge knees and kicks to the body really seemed to hurt the challenger and everything seemed to be pointing to another title defense for Pereira. And that did in fact come to light in the fifth when the champ began to really pour it on. It was one shot after another as Rountree displayed some unbelievable toughness while the champ teed off on him. Pereira showed tons of patience as he stalked the bloodied and battered challenger before finally landing a big body shot that buckled Rountree and ended the fight. This was certainly the toughest fight Pereira has seen since capturing the light heavyweight crown, but in the end he proved to be in a class all on his own.
My pick: Pereira via 1st round knockout
Result: Pereira via 4th round knockout
The UFC will return to ESPN+ on Saturday, October 12 for UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira.