Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree is headline news in Salt Lake City

When the UFC returns to Utah this fall, there is a main event on the agenda – and one that not many people expected.

Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will put his title on the line against Khalil Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City on October 5. UFC officials announced the fight on Friday.

As early as 2024, Pereira has title defenses to make in the UFC 300 main event against former champion Jamahal Hill and in the UFC 303 main event against former champion Jiri Prochazka. A win for Pereira would give him four light heavyweight title wins in about 11 months. Few, if any, UFC champions average more than two title fights per year.

Many wondered who a possible next opponent for Pereira would be after Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) faced Aleksandar Rakic ​​​​(14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. And considering Pereira fought in April and then again in late June, perhaps the timing is an indication that Pereira intends to continue making his mark in the UFC history books.

Pereira won the UFC middleweight title against his kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya in late 2022, but lost the belt to him in a rematch. He then moved up to light heavyweight and needed just two more fights to become champion. His two title defenses also came in a short period of time.

Fair or not, Rountree's name wasn't at the top of most potential title challengers' lists. But the 34-year-old veteran of season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter” is on a five-fight winning streak with four stoppages, including a third-round win over former title challenger Anthony Smith last December. He also has three post-fight bonus points at this stage.

But Pereira, who has been a narrow favorite or underdog in all of his UFC fights, is likely to see a significant increase in bookies' numbers soon given his recent performances when they get to work.

UFC 307 also featured a co-main event women's bantamweight title fight between champion Raquel Pennington and former champion Julianna Peña.

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.