Who should challenge for Alex Pereira's title next?
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Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer
The UFC’s latest venture to Salt Lake City didn’t disappoint. By the end of UFC 307, fans witnessed another exhilarating knockout finish by light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, Julianna Peña reclaiming the women’s bantamweight throne and Kayla Harrison cementing herself as the No. 1 contender for Peña’s belt.
In the main event, Pereira overcame a near knockdown from Khalil Rountree Jr. in Round 2, rallying to get a fourth-round TKO finish and extend his knockout streak to four in a row. In the co-main event, Peña narrowly outpointed Raquel Pennington to earn a split decision win.
Here’s what the next move should be for each champion and other top stars of UFC 307.
Alex Pereira, light heavyweight
Who should be next: Winner of Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 on Oct. 26
Like any budding superstar, Pereira has done a great job of creating multiple opportunities, and storylines for his path forward. A potential move back to middleweight or up to heavyweight. Pereira is in multiple conversations, which is always preferred. Ultimately, though, it’s evident that even he knows his immediate future is at light heavyweight, against the winner of this upcoming fight at UFC 308. Dricus Du Plessis has plenty of challengers at middleweight and the heavyweight picture is already muddled, with an interim champion in Tom Aspinall.
Wild card: Jon Jones
If Jones beats Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November and then calls out Pereira, that immediately becomes the biggest fight the UFC can make. As much as I would hate to see that happen for Aspinall, that fight would be so big that the UFC would almost have to do it. But that’s unlikely.
Khalil Rountree Jr., light heavyweight
Who should be next: Jamahal Hill
This matchup was originally scheduled for the UFC 303 card in June — the card underwent a massive shakeup after Conor McGregor pulled out. Hill hasn’t provided a firm timeframe for his return from knee injuries, and Rountree will need some time off after this loss anyway. Whenever these two are healthy, this is the one to make. They’re both still in the title hunt, and despite the loss, Rountree’s stock went up. He fought Pereira competitively and showed a ton of heart.
Wild card: Johnny Walker
These two met back in 2018, and Walker got the best of Rountree in a first-round finish. Rountree has come a long way since then. Walker has been hit-and-miss. This matchup makes sense in the rankings and there’s history between the two. If Walker can get another win over Rountree, his stock would rise substantially, as he’s currently in a two-fight losing streak.
Julianna Peña, women’s bantamweight
Who should be next: Kayla Harrison
I’m not sure what to make of Peña’s postfight callout. I understand that Peña would love to settle the trilogy against Amanda Nunes, but Nunes has shown no interest in coming out of retirement for that. Harrison is ready to go, and everyone knows that this fight is next … except for Peña. If she has any shot of enticing Nunes out of retirement, the way to do it is to promote the hell out of a matchup against Harrison — make it one of the biggest fights of the year, score the upset and then callout Nunes.
Wild card: None
There really isn’t another matchup for Peña, which made her callout of anyone other than Harrison so odd. Harrison is next, period.
Mario Bautista, men’s bantamweight
Who should be next: Henry Cejudo
Cejudo is at a point where he’s being very selective about his fights, and he’s earned the right to do that, at the same time, he needs to take a matchup or lose his ranking. He can come back at any time. These rankings are supposed to mean something, and right now, he’s squatting on one. Cejudo and Bautista both train in Arizona, so their camps are familiar with one another. Cejudo can’t say that Bautista isn’t deserving, because he just beat José Aldo. And Bautista doesn’t appear to be intimidated about facing these more established names. This is the right fight for the division.
Wild card: Rob Font, if Font beats Kyler Phillips on Oct. 19
Phillips and Bautista both train at MMA Lab, so Bautista will be invested in that fight on Oct. 19. If Font beats his teammate, Bautista would have a chance to avenge that loss and continue to climb the rankings.
José Aldo, men’s bantamweight
Who should be next: Sean O’Malley
I don’t understand the matchmaking for Aldo as of late. He created a predicament because he intended to retire from MMA to pursue boxing, but pairing Aldo with Merab Dvalishvili when he was in the midst of perhaps a final title run felt odd. It turned what might have been our last memory of Aldo in the Octagon into a wrestling-heavy snoozefest.
In two fights since, Aldo has been paired against good, young fighters, but not prospects who benefited greatly from facing such a big name. I applaud the UFC for making relevant bouts and Aldo for being willing to fight the up-and-comers, but it’s time for “The King of Rio” to be in a big fight with another big name. And that’s O’Malley right now. This fight would raise both of their profiles. And don’t tell me you can’t give Aldo a higher-ranked opponent off a loss, because some observers thought he beat Bautista and don’t forget, Aldo’s last title shot came immediately after he lost to Marlon Moraes.
Wild card: Song Yadong
If the UFC wants to continue this trend of Aldo facing the next generation, Song is an obvious choice. They are close in the rankings and Song is also coming off a loss. Song trains with Urijah Faber at Team Alpha Male, and it would be fun to see Faber in the corner against Aldo, more than a decade after they fought in 2010.
