The Ultimate Fighting Championship is seriously considering a return to Salt Lake City.
Two big 135-pound bouts will take place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5. The locations have yet to be confirmed by the promotion, but were announced on Friday. The first, a bout between former featherweight champion Jose Aldo (32-8) and Mario Bautista (14-2), was first reported by Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight. The second, a bout between top contenders Kayla Harrison (17-1) and Ketlen Vieira (14-3), was reported by Super Lutus. Both UFC 307 bouts have since been confirmed by multiple media outlets.
Aldo retired in 2022 after a loss to Merab Dvalishvili, before briefly trying his hand at boxing in 2023. In boxing, Aldo drew with former MMA rival Jeremy Stephens and returned to the cage with a six-round decision win over Esteban Gabriel Espindola. In his return fight, which he said may be his final, he faced Jonathan Martinez in his native Brazil, where Aldo pulled off an upset and won by decision, much to the delight of his home fans.
Bautista comes into the bout riding a six-fight win streak. In his rise through the talented bantamweight division, the MMA Lab alum has scored three first-round submissions, including an ultra-rare reverse triangle choke against Benito Lopez in 2023. Most recently, Bautista has won decisions over Damon Blackshear and Ricky Simon, the latter of which he recorded in January.
The former lightweight made her mark at UFC in April, defeating former champion Holly Holm in under seven minutes in her promotional debut. A multiple-time Professional Fighters League champion, Harrison suffered a major upset loss to rival Larissa Pacheco at the end of the 2022 season. Despite bouncing back a year later with a decision win over Aspen Ladd, Harrison has now terminated her contract and set her sights on UFC.
Brazil’s Vieira is a regular contender at 135 pounds, first as an undefeated fighter who won four straight bouts to earn a title shot and then rose to the title-eliminator bout against Irene Aldana. Along the way, she tapped out Sara McMann and overpowered Cat Zingano, but Aldana knocked her out with a barrage of punches. Vieira also celebrated a win over Holm, but in early 2023, she lost to future champion Raquel Pennington. After fighting six full rounds in a row, “The Phenomeno” last fought in July 2023, winning all three bouts by scorecard against Panny Kianzad.
UFC 307 is scheduled to take place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, with no main event lineup announced at this time. There are rumors that Pennington will fight Julianna Peña for the bantamweight belt at the October 5 show, but that bout is not official. Other bouts scheduled include a featherweight matchup between Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling, a strawweight matchup between Marina Rodriguez and Iasmin Lucindo, and a 185-pound bout between Cesar Almeida and Igor Potieria.
