Top Five UFC Fights To Look Forward To In October

The UFC takes things to another level in October with two pay-per-view blockbusters and three title fights among the four cards, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he highlights the five most-anticipated UFC fights of the month.

Alex Pereira v Khalil Rountree Jr

Sunday, 6 October SA time

Light heavyweight champion Pereira can put the icing on top of a banner year when he defends his belt against Rountree in the UFC 307 headliner at the Delta Center in Utah.

A legend in kickboxing, feared knockout artist Pereira has become an even bigger star in mixed martial arts. The former middleweight king has ruled the 205-pound division with an iron fist and has scored highlight-reel stoppage wins over Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka in 2024. A third successful title defence to kick off October’s UFC offering would unquestionably make him the Fighter of the Year.

Rountree was a surprising pick as the next challenger as he’s in lowly eighth place in the rankings and tested positive for a banned substance earlier this year. The American striker notified the promotion that he’d accidentally digested the banned substance and received a two-month suspension, ruling him out of a scheduled fight with Hill.

Now the dangerous dark horse, who’s on a five-fight win streak, gets an opportunity to shock the world. 

Raquel Pennington v Juliana Pena

Sunday, 6 October SA time

The co-main event of UFC 307 will see Pennington make the first defence of her bantamweight belt against former titleholder Pena.

Pennington has strung together a six-fight win streak including her victory over Mayra Bueno Silva to capture the vacant title in January. Seen by many as a journeywoman rather than a champion-calibre fighter, “Rocky” looks to silence the doubters against one of the true elite at 135 pounds.

Pena upset Amanda Nunes, the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time, to seize the strap in 2021 but hasn’t fought since she lost a one-sided decision to “The Lioness” in their rematch in July 2022. Will she prove she’s the real champion in the post-Nunes era or will Pennington put her stamp on the division?

Ilia Topuria v Max Holloway

Saturday, 26 October SA time

It’s champion versus champion as Topuria puts his featherweight gold on the line against BMF titleholder Holloway in the main event of UFC 308 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

A confident, new-generation killer, Topuria called his shot and delivered when he knocked out long-time 145-pound king Alexander Volkanovski to claim the crown in February.

Unbeaten, he boasts a perfect 15-0 record and plans on slaying another superstar in the featherweight GOAT conversation to prove that we’re indeed in the Topuria era.

Former champion Holloway is one of the all-time greats and produced one of the best knockouts in UFC history when he flatlined Justin Gaethje in the final seconds of their clash in April to claim the BMF belt. 

A phenomenal striker, “Blessed” is on a three-fight win streak and hell-bent on becoming the first to defeat Topuria and return to the top of the featherweight mountain.

Robert Whittaker v Khamzat Chimaev

Saturday, 26 October SA time

Former middleweight champion Whittaker faces undefeated juggernaut Chimaev in the co-headliner of UFC 308.

The pair were originally set to fight in June, but Chimaev was forced to withdraw due to illness. Whittaker instead faced Ikram Aliskerov, who he beat by TKO in the opening round.

If anyone has the skills and savviness to end Chimaev’s unbeaten streak, it’s Whittaker, a well-rounded warrior of the highest order. Conversely, Chimaev represents a tall order for “The Reaper” with his scary power and overwhelming grappling.

Something has to give in this extremely intriguing clash, which could determine the next challenger for the middleweight title after Dricus du Plessis’ expected rematch against Sean Strickland.

Magomed Ankalaev v Aleksandar Rakic

Saturday, 26 October SA time

Both Ankalaev and Rakic are ranked higher than Rountree, the former sitting second and the latter fifth. Ankalaev, in particular, was unlucky not to get the title shot against Pereira as he should’ve been the next man in line considering his ranking and the fact that he hasn’t lost since his UFC debut back in 2018.

A strong grappler, he feels he’s a nightmare matchup for “Poatan” and that the promotion is protecting the champion from him. He’s had a previous chance at championship gold in 2022 but fought to a split draw with Jan Blachowicz. Now coming off a knockout win over Jonny Walker, he looks to cement himself as the next title challenger with a win at UFC 308.

Rakic, meanwhile, aims to halt the first two-fight skid of his career. After back-to-back wins over former title challengers Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, he suffered successive TKO losses to ex-champions Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka but can put himself back in the title picture by upsetting Ankalaev.