Former two-weight title challenger, Chael Sonnen is going with the massive underdog ahead of UFC 307 in two months time — picking unlikely light heavyweight title challenger, Khalil Rountree to solve the striking puzzle of Alex Pereira and capture the crown in Salt Lake City.
Rountree, the current number eight ranked light heavyweight challenger, returns in October in the headliner of UFC 307, taking on former two-division champion, Pereira, in his first championship charge under the banner of the promotion.
Sidelined through an anti-doping violation, Rountree, a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter, most recently improved his impressive winning run to five straight fights with an impressive third round knockout win over former title chaser, Anthony Smith.
As for Alex Pereira, the Sao Paulo knockout artist headlined UFC 303 back in June, landing his second successful defense of the 205lbs crown already this year, laying out former champion, Jiri Prochazka with a spectacular second round high-kick knockout win.
Chael Sonnen picks Khalil Rountree to topple Alex Pereira
And despite opening as a considerable betting underdog to beat Brazilian favorite, Alex Pereira later this year in the main event of UFC 307, Rountree has received the backing on former title challenger, Sonnen to “walk through” the champion with ease.
“First off, let me give you the hot take of the day: Khalil Rountree is going to walk through (Alex) Pereira,” Chael Sonnen said on Good Guy/Bad Guy. “That is the worst matchup I could think of. This is Smackdown invading Raw, and let me explain. When you think of who’s going to go fight for a title on pay-per-view, we think of other guys who have won a whole bunch of fights on pay-per-view. Well, Khalil was from Smackdown. He came from the other show.”
“…I will tell you this because I don’t know how familiar you are or the rest of the fans are with Khalil, but he does his absolute best work when he’s being attacked by a kickboxer,” Sonnen explained. “It’s not Khalil swarming somebody or taking them down or submitting them. He is a counter fighter, and he loves when you punch or kick at him first.”