Reigning UFC light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, retained his 205-pound title by stopping Khalil Rountree Jr. atop the UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) card last weekend in Salt Lake City. “Poatan” is expected to make his return against top contender Magomed Ankalaev at some point in early 2025, though he also teased potential fights at both middleweight and heavyweight.
BetOnline.ag has Pereira as the betting underdog, regardless of where he ends up.
Alex Pereira: +120
Magomed Ankalaev: -140
Alex Pereira: +300
Tom Aspinall: -400
Alex Pereira: +155
Israel Adesanya: -185
Alex Pereira: +450
Jon Jones: -600
Dricus Du Plessis is a more likely opponent than Adesanya.
In the UFC 307 co-main event, Julianna Pena (barely) reclaimed the 135-pound title by edging out Raquel Pennington and will likely move on to make her first title defense against women’s bantamweight contender Kayla Harrison. The former PFL champ also competed at UFC 307, capturing a unanimous decision victory over Ketlen Vieira.
Harrison opened as the -700 betting favorite against +500 for the underdog Pena.
Nothing is official at this time, but you can expect both title fights (Pereira vs. Ankalaev, Pena vs. Harrison) to happen at some point in first quarter 2025. “Poatan” competed three times this year — all PPV main events — and will likely spend the next few months recovering from his active schedule.
For more UFC 307 results and fallout click here.