The UFC’s return to Utah this fall has a principal occasion – and it isn’t one which was on many individuals’s radars.

Mild heavyweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will put his title on the road towards [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) within the UFC 307 headliner in Salt Lake Metropolis on Oct. 5. UFC officers introduced the matchup Friday.

Already in 2024, Pereira has title defenses within the UFC 300 principal occasion towards ex-champ Jamahal Hill and within the UFC 303 principal occasion towards ex-champ Jiri Prochazka. A win for Pereira would give him 4 gentle heavyweight title wins in about 11 months. Few, if any, UFC champions common greater than two title fights a yr.

Many puzzled who can be a viable subsequent opponent for Pereira after Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) was matched up with Aleksandar Rakic (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. And contemplating Pereira fought in April, then once more in late June, the timing is probably a sign Pereira intends to maintain proper on trucking by the UFC’s historical past books.

Pereira received the UFC’s middleweight title towards kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya in late 2022, however misplaced the belt to him in a rematch. He then moved to gentle heavyweight and wanted simply two fights to change into champion. His two defenses got here briefly order, too.

Honest or not, Rountree’s identify wasn’t atop most potential title challenger lists. However the 34-year-old veteran of Season 23 of “The Final Fighter” has a five-fight profitable streak with 4 stoppages, together with a third-round end of former title challenger Anthony Smith this previous December. He has three post-fight bonuses in that stretch, as effectively.

However Pereira, who has been only a slight favourite or underdog in all his UFC fights, is probably going to expertise an enormous bump in early help when the oddsmakers go to work, given his latest resume.

UFC 307 additionally added a co-main occasion girls’s bantamweight title battle between champion Raquel Pennington and former champ Julianna Peña.

For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 307.

This text initially appeared on MMA Junkie: Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree title battle headlines UFC 307 in Salt Lake Metropolis