Poatan knocks out, keeps title and breaks another record

Without any surprise, Alex Poatan Pereira made his third successful title defense in the light heavyweight category by beating Khalil Rountree Jr. by knockout UFC 307 on Saturday night (5).

The duel was the main event of the night at the Delta Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. With the victory, the Brazilian not only kept the belt, but also broke another record in his Ultimate career.

Poatan started the fight with a high kick, which was well saved by Khalil. Both fighters showed caution in the sequence and a good balance in their striking. The Brazilian had the advantage by just three significant blows.

The fight remained explosive in the second round, with Pereira landing high kicks on the left. The Tupiniquim also invested in low kicks to try to slow down Rountree. Both champion and challenger managed to show the weight of their hands.

Khalil continued to give Poatan trouble in the third round, with the same agility as at the beginning. But the São Paulo native continued to dominate, expanding his advantage with connected strikes and slowing down the American, especially with knees in the last minute.

Poatan came back even bigger in the fourth quarter, cornering Rountree, who began to bleed. The exchange became very intense in the second half of the round, with the champion much more aggressive and the challenger staggering and refusing to go down.

With just 28 seconds left in the fourth round, Khalil was finally taken down after bleeding and resisting a lot in the Octagon. Poatan’s knockout sent the Delta Center crowd wild.

The two also won the bonus for best fight of the night; each one will take home US$50,000 (R$270,000 at current prices).

Poatan breaks another UFC record

With the result, Poatan made his third successful title defense in the light heavyweight category in less than six months — more precisely, in an interval of 175 days.

This is the shortest amount of time a UFC athlete has taken to defend a belt three times. The previous record was held by legend Ronda Rousey, who did it in a span of 189 days in the women’s bantamweight division.

Between April 13 and October 5, 2024, Alex Pereira knocked out challengers Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr. The Tupiniquim is still the only UFC fighter to make three defenses in the current season and the seventh in history to do so in the same season.