Utah, again, left impression on UFC 307 fighters, in victory and defeat

SALT LAKE CITY — The crowd stayed much longer when they could've filed out into the streets after another late-night bout.

The capacity crowd of 17,487 mixed martial arts fans stood and applauded a Herculean performance by a pair of fighters for the UFC 307 main event, a light heavyweight title bout between Alex Pereira and challenger Khalil Rountree Jr.

Even with his nose bleeding — and again during an octagon interview with arena host Joe Rogan — and puffy cheeks swelling past his eyelids after a TKO loss to "Poatan" (12-2, fighting out of Bethel, Connecticut), Rountree needed to say something.

He had just lost for the first time since January 2021, but he wanted to make sure the fans in attendance knew how much he meant to him — really, how much the whole state of Utah meant to him.

"Everybody here in Salt Lake, I just want to give you guys a huge thank you," said Rountree (13-6, fighting out of Las Vegas). "I got so welcome in your city. I'll never forget this training camp my whole life.

"You guys have been so (expletive) awesome. I would love to come back any time, train at altitude, fight here again. I love you guys, and I swear to God I'll be back one day."

In the UFC's third Pay-Per-View card in Utah's capitol city, MMA fans from around the state made another huge impression on the promotion. The capacity crowd brought the second-highest attendance in the Delta Center's history, pumped in a $5 million gate, and were rewarded by a Fight of the Night performance from Pereira and Rountree, with performance bonuses from Ryan Spann and Joaquin Buckley.

UFC now owns the top-three grossing events at the Delta Center, and there appears to be no stopping for the promotion based in Las Vegas from returning to the Beehive State.

If it produces more bouts like Pereira-Rountree, there's no reason to ever leave.

"You knew it was going to be a badass fight," UFC CEO and president Dana White said. "This sport is incredible, right? And the live event is amazing.

"Nobody leaves one of these live events and goes, 'Yeah, I don't ever want to come to one of these again.' So every time we come, you have to assume that new people are experiencing it for the firs time, and somebody who's experienced it many times will bring somebody new. That's how we've grown for the last 25 years. That's literally the formula."

Utah left an impression on UFC, both organizationally and its athletes. Even for Alexander Hernandez (15-8), who before his split-decision win over with Austin Hubbard (16-8) found himself at the center of a shooting while walking back to his hotel after breakfast earlier Saturday.

But the 31-year-old who fights out of San Antonio wouldn't even let that get him down about the host city for UFC 307.

"I'm about to take home a Book of Mormon. It's been a cool week," Hernandez said. "I really dig it. It's been a fun time out here."

UFC has found a home in Utah, with its wide-ranging fight community that started as one of the early homes of jiu jitsu in the 1980s through the contemporary work of UFC fighter Court McGee and many others.

But every year since the "kick heard round the world" between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman, UFC has found a way to top itself.

There was the Justin Gaethje backflip after his knockout win over Dustin Poirier a year ago. Saturday night, Pereira and Rountree added their own chapter to the storied history of MMA in the Salt Lake Valley.

For Pereira, it's now multiple chapters in what is becoming a novel that may provide a defense for his case as pound-for-pound best fighter in the promotion.

The Sao Paulo, Brazil, native has won five in a row dating back to last summer's split-decision victory over Jan Błachowicz. Pereira (12-2) laid claim to the light heavyweight title with a TKO over Jiří Procházka at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden, and has now defended it three times, most recently against the No. 7-ranked Rountree.

Along the way, he battled untold obstacles, including visa difficulties, fever, sore throat and illnesses that antibiotics struggled to alleviate. But in the same arena that sparked his five-match winning streak, Pereira found a way to get stronger round-by-round — and extend the good times of one of the more dominant 18-month runs in UFC history.

"I like fighting anywhere," he said in Portuguese through a translator. "But you know, I've had two very tough fights here. My fight last year was super tough; my meniscus was blown and went to decision. Then I fought Jiří ... and then I had surgery, which is something that most people don't even know. But there's always something, and it almost feels like that's a part of it.

"In the meantime, my physical therapist is getting to see the world."

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