Dana White just announced the main card lineup and one additional fight for UFC 307 via Instagram, including the location and venue. Six fights have been confirmed for the event, with more likely to follow soon.
The main event will feature current UFC light heavyweight champion and Brazilian superstar Alex Pereira, who will attempt to defend his title for the third time. His opponent is 8th-ranked Khalil Rountree Jr., who has won five fights in a row, including notable victories over Anthony Smith and Dustin Jacoby. This will be Pereira’s third fight of the year, having previously fought at UFC 300 and UFC 303.
The co-main event will feature the women’s bantamweight division and new 135-pound champion Raquel Pennington will look to defend her title against Juliana Pena. Pena hasn’t fought since 2022, when she lost her title to Amanda Nunes.
The oddsmakers are always confident in Israel Adesanya.
He's lost 3 fights to Alex Pereira, but the oddsmakers still have him as a favorite heading into this weekend.#UFC287 pic.twitter.com/0MF4krsH1v
— Verdict (@TournamentsMMA) April 5, 2023
The first confirmed non-title fight at UFC 307 is at featherweight, where Mosvar Evloev will face former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. Evloev is undefeated in the UFC with eight straight wins, and “Funkmaster” just picked up a dominant victory over Calvin Kattar. The winner of that fight could challenge for the featherweight title next.
“The King of Rio” Jose Aldo, ranked No. 8 in the bantamweight division, will also return on this card, facing his second consecutive junior fighter, Mario Bautista. Aldo announced his retirement earlier this year in the co-main event of UFC 301, where he defeated Jonathan Martinez. Bautista also picked up his first ranked victory when he defeated Ricky Simon earlier this year.
White also announced that Kevin Holland will remain on the UFC 307 card. He was originally scheduled to face Chris Curtis, but that fight has now been postponed with Roman Dolidze replacing Curtis. This fight will be contested at middleweight.
The last fight announced by Dana White was between Stephen Thompson and Joaquin Buckley, a welterweight attraction that Buckley had been demanding since his victory over Nursulton Ruziboev.
How do you rate this card on a scale of 1 to 10? What other fights would you book for the card? Let us know with a comment below.
