UFC 307 fight fallout: What’s next for Alex Pereira, Kayla Harrison, Julianna Pena and Jose Aldo

Alex Pereira netted the third defense of his UFC light heavyweight championship on Saturday, setting the record for three fastest UFC title defenses. Pereira put surprisingly game Khalil Rountree Jr. in the rearview and looks ahead to new challenges after UFC 307.

Pereira toned down talks about moving to heavyweight or middleweight after beating Routree. That’s good news from a meritocratic standpoint because there’s a challenger overdue for a title shot at 205 pounds.

The light heavyweight title wasn’t the only gold at stake this weekend. New UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison appear on a collision course after their respective wins on Saturday.

Let’s look at the best fights to make in the light heavyweight, women’s bantamweight and bantamweight divisions after UFC 307.

Light heavyweight

UFC light heavyweight championship — Alex Pereira (c) vs. Magomed Ankalaev: Rountree gave Pereira some serious problems on Saturday, but Pereira’s most difficult light heavyweight fight to date is arguably still his weight class debut against Jan Blachowicz. Former champ Blachowicz took Pereira to a split decision with a grappling-heavy game plan. Ankalaev presents an arguably greater wrestling threat. Ankalaev is ranked No. 2 in the UFC’s official light heavyweight rankings and undefeated in a dozen fights. It seems petty he’s fighting Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 at the end of the month, a guy coming off two losses. UFC president Dana White assured Ankalaev a title shot if he nets an impressive performance. Truthfully, Ankalaev deserves the title fight no matter how he beats Rakic on Oct. 26.

Khalil Rountree vs. Volkan Oezdemir or Carlos Ulberg winner: Candidly, I’d love to see UFC rebook the Jamahal Hill vs. Rountree fight that was scrapped from UFC 303. The problem is Rountree probably needs an extensive break after the damage he took on Saturday. Rountree sits at No. 8 in the UFC’s official light heavyweight rankings. I wouldn’t be surprised if he moved up a spot or two after his spirited loss to Pereira. Oezdemir vs. Ulberg is scheduled for UFC Fight Night on Nov. 23. Booking the winner against Rountree sounds like a blast.

Women’s bantamweight

UFC women’s bantamweight championship — Julianna Pena (c) vs. Kayla Harrison: Pena told CBS Sports she’d call out Amanda Nunes post-fight and stayed true to her word. Harrison expected Pena to run from her and may have been proven right. Pena called out her fellow two-time women’s bantamweight champ for a trilogy fight nobody asked to see. Neither Harrison or Pena had memorable performances, but this is the meritocratic title fight between the division’s most recognizable active athletes.

Raquel Pennington vs. Macy Chiasson: Pennington and Chiasson fought back in 2021 but you’ll have a hard time finding Pennington fresh opponents 10 years and 19 fights into her UFC run. Pennington submitted Chiasson at featherweight after Chiasson missed weight. Chiasson looks sharp after consecutive stoppages against Mayra Bueno Silva and Pannie Kianzad. Chiasson is one of the more reliably entertaining fighters at women’s bantamweight. She and Pennington are ranked inside the UFC’s top four at 135 pounds. It’s about as good as you can expect from the weight class right now.

Bantamweight

Jose Aldo vs. Dominick Cruz or Henry Cejudo: Pitting Aldo against low name-value contenders is not an effective use of his star power. Some will argue that Aldo should have won the decision but that only strengthens the argument. Mario Bautista did not get enough rub to justify booking the Aldo fight. Fellow former UFC champions Cruz and Cejudo both compete in the bantamweight division. Aldo claims he had agreed to fight Cruz in May before the latter suffered an injury. Some might argue that Aldo shouldn’t fight the UFC’s No. 6 ranked contender Cejudo coming off a loss but Cejudo is 0-2 since coming out of retirement. These three legends can still compete at a high level, particularly Aldo and Cejudo. Fun legends fights like this are a great way to bolster PPV main cards. Get it done!

Mario Bautista vs. Rob Font or Kyler Phillips: Bautista didn’t earn much fan support after holding onto Aldo for dear life in rounds two and three. Still, it’s a victory and he’ll likely take Aldo’s No. 10 spot in the UFC’s official 135-pound rankings by Monday. Font (No. 9) battles Kyler Phillips (No. 12) on Oct. 19. Booking Bautista against the winner is another chance for him to prove himself against competition up the rankings on a timeline that works well with his potential opponents.