A lot of fight fans felt that if Khalil Rountree was going to have success at UFC 307, it would need to come early.
Alex Pereira is so efficient and effective at setting traps that the fight was always going to get tougher for him in the later rounds and this ended up being the case.
Perhaps what many didn’t expect is how competitive the first few rounds would be before Rountree’s gas tank and the damage he was taking started to catch up to him.
As a former opponent of Rountree’s, Anthony Smith was able to take a lot away from watching this fight play out this past weekend in Salt Lake City.
Anthony Smith Says That Watching Khalil Rountree At UFC 307 Made Him More Positive
Though he has recently buried the hatchet with Pereira over their previous feud, Smith still took a lot of enjoyment after seeing how well Rountree did against “Poatan”.
The challenger’s last victory before he fought for the title was against “Lionheart” where he viciously stopped him in the third round.
Smith was happy that his performance against Rountree clearly wasn’t a one-off after seeing how well he did against Pereira who is a whole different level in the striking.
“To be very honest, there was a lot of me those first two rounds that felt really good watching Khalil, like f***, at least it ain’t just me.
“I was like oh thank God. It would have really hurt my heart if Pereira had went out there and just dusted Khalil in like a round but watching him have some real serious success and land big on, you know how it is as a fighter. You kind of sit back and go, ‘S*** he didn’t land on me like that till the third round’. It was cool and it made he happy for Khalil.”
Read also: ‘How Scary Is It?’ – Daniel Cormier Imagines ‘Amateur’ Alex Pereira With A Well-Rounded MMA Skillset
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