Khalil Rountree: At UFC 307, Alex Pereira and Raquel Pennington will defend their titles.

 According to UFC CEO Dana White's announcement on Friday, UFC 307 will feature two title fights. When he fights Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event of UFC 307 inside the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will look to make his third defense of the title this year.

The co-main event will feature a women's bantamweight title bout between Julianna Peña and champion Raquel Pennington. Brazil's Pereira (11-2) is having a fantastic year. This year, at UFC 300 and UFC 303, he has already defeated two past champions and hinted at a possible transition to heavyweight.

Brazil's Pereira (11-2) is having a fantastic year. This year, at UFC 300 and UFC 303, he has already defeated two past champions and hinted at a possible transition to heavyweight.

He will take on fellow kickboxer Rountree (19-5), who hasn't competed since 2024 but recently defeated Anthony Smith via knockout in December.

In her immediate rematch with Amanda Nunes in July 2022, Pennington (16-8) will try to extend her winning run to six fights against Peña (10-5), a former champion who has not competed since giving up the title. Peña defeated Nunes shockingly in 2021 to win the title, but in the eagerly awaited rematch, Peña lost badly.

On the card, Kayla Harrison, a former PFL lightweight champion, is matched up against Ketlen Vieira. If Harrison defeats Vieira, she will most likely challenge the victor of the co-main event in a future title defense.

Australia's Perth -- During the UFC 305 final press conference, middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis and challenger Israel Adesanya engaged in yet another intense exchange that left the New Zealander, who was born in Nigeria, in tears.

Once more, as Du Plessis made his claims to be the first "residing" African champion in the UFC, the conversation turned back to "culture," which had been a major theme in the build-up to this highly anticipated bout.

Du Plessis interrupted after Adesanya announced that he would be taking the belt with him to Nigeria on Tuesday, and then South Africa a few days later, to inquire as to whether he would be "taking the servants with you."
Adesanya was offended by that and responded angrily to his opponent.
You are ignorant of my experience. Just shut the f--- up. You have no idea how my mother studies to become a nurse while my father and I had to get up at 4 a.m. to clean the banks.

"If you don't know my story, don't f---ing talk about it. On Sunday, I'll reveal who you are."

"I am a human being, period. I can whoop your ass and cry at the same time because I am a man. When I made my dream come true in February 2018 by fighting here [in Perth], at UFC 221—I could feel the love from the crowd. I will f---king kill your dreams on Sunday, b----, that's what I'm going to do.

In contrast to Adesanya, who is making his first appearance in the Octagon in almost a year after suffering a defeat to the same opponent, Du Plessis will be making his first title defense against Sean Strickland on Sunday.