Alex Pereira walks out of UFC 307 as a champion, but Khalil Rountree Jr. has nothing to hang his head about.
The challenger pushed Pereira to the limit in Saturday’s main event in Salt Lake City, standing and striking with the feared knockout artist for three rounds before succumbing to a Pereira flurry in the fourth. Every exchange had the Delta Center crowd roaring in approval and that was reflected in the fighters’ earning a Fight of the Night award and an extra $50,000 each.
Performance of the Night bonuses went to Joaquin Buckley and Ryan Spann, who both scored impressive finishes on the preliminary portion of the card.
Buckley scored a powerful knockout of two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson in the third round to improve to 5-0 since dropping to 170 pounds. He also earned his fifth Performance of the Night bonus.
Spann collected his third bonus with a first-round submission of veteran Ovince Saint Preux. After rocking Saint Preux with a right hand, he quickly jumped onto a guillotine choke that forced Saint Preux to tap. In his post-fight interview, Spann dubbed the maneuver “The Superman-otine.”
