The Bigger Picture | UFC 307: Pereira vs Rountree Jr.

We have become so accustomed to his punishing finishes that we don’t often speak about his technical acumen, his ability to dissect fights on the fly, and find the right shots, even when it’s not some massive concussive blow that ends things in a flash. Rountree Jr. had a ton of success in this contest, but at no point did Pereira seem flustered; he just made some small adjustments and continued pressuring forward, taking what the challenger gave him.

Eventually, it all became too much for Rountree Jr. to endure, and Pereira picked up his fourth light heavyweight title fight win in the last 12 months, establishing himself as the clubhouse leader in the Fighter of the Year race.

While everyone was understandably intrigued by his arrival at UFC 268, no one could have forecasted Pereira doing everything he’s done over the last three years. He’s been in championship main events in six of his last seven appearances, earned five straight victories at light heavyweight after rapidly ascending to the top of the middleweight ranks, and has become arguably the biggest star in the sport, all while saying very little and allowing his efforts to speak for him.

Chama!

What’d I Tell You About the Women’s Bantamweight Division?

Last month, after Norma Dumont busted up Irene Aldana at Noche UFC, I wrote about the intrigue and excitement bubbling up in the women’s bantamweight division, pointing to Saturday’s event as pivotal night in determining the future course of the 135-pound weight class.

Now that the smoke has cleared in Salt Lake City, it’s safe to say that things are even more interesting than even I anticipated a handful of weeks ago.

Julianna Pena ascended to the throne for a second time on Saturday, edging out Raquel Pennington by split decision in an ultra-competitive fight that, as it turned out, was determined by how things unfolded in the opening round. The now two-time champion got the better of the grappling exchanges, as anticipated, but wasn’t able to get Pennington to the canvas in the championship rounds, which resulted in “Rocky” closing out the fight with a ton of momentum, only to hear Bruce Buffer declare “And New” after reading out the scores.

In the main card opener, Kayla Harrison had to deal with some adversity in her clash with Ketlen Vieira, including getting blasted with an elbow that opened her up for the first time in her career. But the two-time Olympic gold medalist found a way to drag the Brazilian contender to the canvas in both the first and third rounds, and dominated when she did get to top position, collecting a second consecutive UFC win that should put her in line to challenge for the title next time out.

Except Pena petitioned Amanda Nunes to end her retirement and face her for a third time, which may not be likely, but certainly adds another wrinkle to things within the division.

While the narrative heading into UFC 307 was that the division had been in a strange place since Nunes’ departure, I would argue those pushing that line of thinking weren’t looking closely enough to see that the women’s bantamweight division is actually in a really good place.

It’ll be fun to listen to Pena and Harrison jaw at one another in the build to what feels like their inevitable meeting, Pennington and Vieira remain tough outs and legitimate threats in the championship picture, and Dumont and Macy Chiasson are nipping at their heels. Mix in the possibility of Nunes returning to the fold at some point and the fact that two-time flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko has a second-round submission win over Pena, and you’ve got a bunch of different ways this division could shape up over the next 12 months.

On Carla Esparza (and Tecia Pennington)

Esparza bid the sport farewell on Saturday evening, retiring following her split decision loss to Pennington.

Each has fought an incredible strength of schedule over the years — Pennington has fought every champion in the division’s history, while Esparza shared the Octagon with all except Jessica Andrade — and both have double digit wins under the UFC banner.

We don’t do a good enough job celebrating just how difficult it is to have the kind of careers each of these women have had, and the fact that they turned up on Saturday and combined to put on a great fight after returning from having children is incredible, and yet scores of people play it off as no big thing.

Yes, big thing, and so is being a Top 15 fighter in one of the deeper, more competitive divisions in the UFC for a decade, as each of these women have been.

Congratulations on an outstanding career, Carla — enjoy whatever comes next.

And Tecia, it’s nice to have you back, too; can’t wait to see you out there again soon.

Quick Hitters

Mario Bautista understood that activity and pace were key to getting the better of Jose Aldo and executed well, extending his winning streak to seven in the process. You can quibble with his approach and argue the referee should have broken them up more frequently when they were battling against the fence, but the MMA Lab representative was effective in space, and wisely neutralized the Brazilian’s weapons when he could in order to keep himself moving forward in the talent-rich bantamweight division.

Roman Dolidze is at his best when his hands are used to set up his grappling, rather than being his primary weapon. The Georgian did well to put Kevin Holland on the canvas, and should continue to be a competitive force in the middle of the middleweight Top 10 going forward.

Joaquin Buckley continued his unbeaten march forward in the welterweight division, earning a third-round knockout win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to move to 5-0 since relocating to the 170-pound ranks. The way this fight played out perfectly highlights what makes “New Mansa” such an intriguing competitor in the division, as Thompson was out-landing him the whole way, only for Buckley’s athleticism and explosiveness to change the course of the fight in a flash.

Iasmin Lucindo is someone we definitely should be talking about more and more, as the 22-year-old picked up her fourth straight victory on Saturday night, edging out fellow Brazilian Marina Rodriguez. The youngest female fighter on the roster, Lucindo has already fought her way into the Top 10 and still has plenty of room to grow, which makes her a fascinating fighter to track going forward.

There are times when Ryan Spann looks like a can’t-miss contender, and Saturday was one of those nights. “Superman” clocked Ovince Saint Preux with a clean right hand that spun the veteran around in place, and when “OSP” tried to change levels and drag the fight to the canvas, Spann locked up a deep guillotine choke to secure the finish. Consistency is the only thing missing from the Fortis MMA man becoming a title threat.

It was extremely cool to see Utah native Court McGee open the show with his first finish since his second UFC appearance all the way back at UFC 121. He said going into the fight that he felt better than ever after getting his neck fixed, and he looked outstanding, taking the fight to Tim Means and getting him out of there in a little over three minutes.

One Last Thing

Shouts to Jon Anik for calling his 100th consecutive UFC pay-per-view event on Saturday night.

To some, it might not sound like that big of an accomplishment — I can hear the “so he calls one show a month; big deal” nonsense from the peanut gallery already — but lest we forget that there are a number of years at the start of this run where Anik was alongside “The Greatest Living American” Brian Stann calling Fight Night events at home and abroad, and he’s still mixing into the rotation for major ESPN and ABC shows to this day.