Dana White just announced that champion Alex Pereira will fight Khalil Rountree for the light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 307 in October. Fans had been clamoring for the UFC CEO to announce the main event for the Salt Lake City bout.

The unanimous fan sentiment was that UFC 307 was sorely lacking in star power, something even veteran journalist Ariel Helwani had pointed out before. The card was earlier rumored to be headed by the much-awaited Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway featherweight title bout, but after it was announced that the fight would headline UFC 308 instead, Dana White and co. were left with a bit of a hole for UFC 307.

Even though the likes of women’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington, former men’s bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling, fan favorites Jose Aldo, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, and Kevin Holland were all set to fight on the card, it was missing the it-factor and the oomph fans expect from a UFC pay-per-view. And Alex Pereira has stepped in yet again to bail out the UFC from disaster, as he has already done twice in the past twelve months- for UFC 300 this April, and UFC 295 last year.

After moving up from middleweight, ‘Poatan’ has defended his 205-pound crown twice since winning the title at UFC 295 last November. While he has defeated former champions Jiri Prochzka and Jamahal Hill, two of the best fighters in the division already, Rountree will be no less of an opponent with his devastating power and formidable striking. This, of course, also guarantees that their clash will mostly be on the feet. With both men’s one-punch knockout power, a finish is more than likely.

‘War Horse’ is in red-hot form, having stopped four out of his last five opponents, including a cartoonish, highlight-reel knockout of Anthony Smith in his last outing in the UFC octagon. He seemed close to fighting for the title, as he was supposed to face Jamahal Hill in the co-main event of UFC 303 earlier this year. Butthe use of a prohibited substance caused him to pull out. However, it eventually seems to have worked out for him, as he will now face the champion instead.

However, this also puts an end to speculations about a possible Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones fight for the heavyweight title, especially after Jones was looking forward to enter the cage after his last one was cancelled.

No Jones Jones at UFC 307

“I have a date. I’ll let boss man Dana [White] announce that,” Jon Jones had revealed on X back in March this year. But so far there’s not been many developments in that front, except a possible PPV card against Stipe Miocic on November 9. Fans who expected Jones to make his much-awaited return in the October 5 event were also let down.

Notably, Dana White is pretty adamant on Jones’ return. However, the UFC Heavyweight Champion’s torn pectoral tendon injury has relegated him outside ever since.

While the Alex Pereira vs Jon Jones fight was highly anticipated, White was pretty clear about who he wants to see against the US MMA fighter. According to the CEO, Pereira might not be qualified enough to fight Jones, and White essentially wants him to beat a few more light heavyweights before moving up to heavyweight.

“This is the problem with the conversation that we’re having here and why people aren’t giving Jon Jones the respect for pound-for-pound,” White had retorted after a journalist presented the possibility of a Pereira bout. “This f******* guy destroyed the best heavyweight in the division. [He] easily made it look like nothing. Jon Jones is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world and the greatest fighter f****** ever. Period. End of story,” White had further added at the UFC 303 post-fight presser in June.

As for the Brazilian champ, he seemed more than ready to challenge the “greatest of all time”, while taking a dig at Tom Aspinall.

“It doesn’t interest me at the moment to fight [Aspinall]. It doesn’t make sense to dispute the interim belt. I am not belittling him. I respect him a lot. I think he is an incredible athlete, a guy who is very dangerous [and] technical. I’m just talking about disputing an interim belt. There is no point for me,” the Brazilian had said on his YouTube channel just last month. “I’m 37, so I have to go directly to the top, directly to the belt. If it’s Jon Jones, if it’s Aspinall, whoever, to me [it] doesn’t matter. I’m just visualizing the belt,” he added further.

Well, it seems Alex Pereira and his fans will have to wait further before their heavyweight dreams comes true.