Monster Energy congratulates 37-year-old Brazilian MMA athlete Alex Pereira on defeating Khalil Rountree Jr. to retain the UFC Men's Light Heavyweight title at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- And still Number One! Monster Energy congratulates 37-year-old Brazilian MMA athlete Alex Pereira on defeating Khalil Rountree Jr. to retain the UFC Men's Light Heavyweight title at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the night's headline fight inside the Delta Center, the reigning champion from São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, stopped his opponent via TKO at 4:32 minutes of Round 4.

The brutal, four-round battle also earned Pereira and his opponent the UFC's $50,000 Fight of the Night Bonus.

UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. was contested in front of a live crowd of 17,487 spectators inside the sold-out Delta Center in Salt Lake City. With five fights on the Main Card and stacked Preliminary and Early Prelims cards, the Main Card was broadcast live to fans worldwide on ESPN pay-per-view, with preliminary fights streamed on ESPN+.

Monster Energy's Pereira (12-2) stepped into the Octagon for his third UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title defense. The Brazilian initially claimed the belt by defeating Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 in November 2023. He most recently beat Prochazka in their rematch with a brutal head kick knockout at UFC 303 in June.

Pereira's title challenger, 34-year-old Khalil Rountree Jr. (14-6) from Los Angeles, California, came to Salt Lake City on a five-fight win streak. Rountree most recently knocked out Anthony Smith at UFC Fight Night in December 2023 and earned Performance of the Night Bonuses in his last two fights. It was time to take a shot at the title in Salt Lake City.

From the start, neither fighter held back their punches. Rountree resorted to his notorious striking from southpaw stance. Meanwhile, Pereira demonstrated discipline and fighting IQ by evading attacks and landing strategic jabs and leg kicks.

In Round 2, the challenger found an opening after Pereira missed a head kick and proceeded to drop the champion by landing a hard right hand. But the scene only increased Pereira's intensity: In Round 3, the defending champion decimated Rountree with a combination of punishing jabs and stunning calf kicks.

By the time Round 4 rolled around, a visibly damaged Rountree suffered the full force of Pereira's punch combos. Right until a flurry of body shots saw the challenger fold over by the fence of the cage, as referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight at 4:32 minutes of Round 4 with Pereira named winner by TKO.