Following the action-packed UFC 307, Peter Klein looks at the next big matchups we need to see in the UFC. Should Alex Pereira face Tom Aspinall next? Is a showdown between Juliana Peña and Kayla Harrison inevitable? Peter also suggests exciting fights for Khalil Rountree, Raquel Pennington, and others. Catch his breakdown of the matchups that will keep the UFC buzz going after UFC 307!
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00:00UFC 307 is now behind us. So what's ahead of us? Well, let's look at the fights to make for the fighters coming off of UFC 307.
00:21In the main event, it was Alex Pereira with a fourth round victory over Khalil Rountree.
00:26What is the fight to make for Alex Pereira? It's not at 205. There is not a fight, and I get, like, at UFC 308, Rakic is fighting again, and the winner of that bout could have a claim to be the number one contender at 205 pounds.
00:40I don't care. Pereira wants to be great. Let him be great. Let him go for something in a third-weight class, unprecedented in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
00:50Let him be that guy and run out and try to go from middleweight champion to light heavyweight champion to heavyweight champion, at least on an interim basis, for the first time in the sports history, in such a short run.
01:07There isn't one fighter at 205 pounds who I think right now gives this guy any sort of a problem. It is just not where this division is at right now. He is so technically superior to everybody who he has fought, and if Israel Adesanya were to move up to 205, I think that the size difference there would just be too much for Izzy to overcome, and Pereira would go out and get that victory as well.
01:32So, I just don't think that it is in the cards for anyone to come up here. So, let a new challenger arise at 205 pounds, and maybe even give him a championship, and let Pereira go up and see if he can do it at the heavyweight division.
01:49In terms of the man he beat, Khalil Roundtree, while he did have a fight against Jamal Hill, it fell out because he tested positive for something, he being Roundtree, let's do it. Let's run it back. We didn't see it before, so let's see it now.
02:01Roundtree against Jamal Hill, I think, is just the easiest decision to make. I don't think you get a new number one contender out of it, given everything I just said about Pereira, but I do think that you get an interesting opportunity and a big win for someone coming out of that fight.
02:16Moving on to the women's bantamweight division, a new champion crowned, Juliana Peña. Earlier in the night, it was Kayla Harrison picking up a win, Peña saying,
02:25Ah, I didn't get to see her fight, but my team told me it was boring. So, the trash talk has already started. The only fight to make is a Kayla Harrison fight. They brought her in from the PFL, they have danced around with it, getting her a couple of wins, but it is now time to allow Kayla Harrison to fight for a UFC championship.
02:44I think she would be successful in that venture, but I think this is the only big fight you can make in this division right now.
02:51For Raquel Pennington, coming off of a championship loss, I have her against Macy Chieson. Chieson is coming off of a win at UFC 303 and is a top five fighter, so I think that you can get another contender coming out of this fight with Pennington having just lost the belt or Chieson coming off of a big win over Bueno Silva.
03:12Allow her to build up more of that momentum and move into the title picture.
03:16And then Katelyn Vieira, who lost to Kayla Harrison, I have her going up against Mayra Bueno Silva.
03:22Both have stumbled as of late and lost in some pretty big moments, but I do think that now this would be a good win to get one of them back on track and a, whew, the pressure is on for the loser of that fight.
03:36So, those are the fights I would make coming out of UFC 307.