Alex Pereira may be a massive betting favorite ahead of the UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) event next month in Salt Lake City, but his Khalil Rountree Jr. fight is not without its share of dangers. That’s according to former opponent Jamahal Hill, who battled “Poatan” atop the UFC 300 card earlier this year in Las Vegas.
“The things that Khalil has going for him is he’s a southpaw,” Hill said on YouTube. “And he has valuable threats from southpaw. If you actually look at even [Pereira’s] kickboxing career and all that, southpaws and southpaw is a stance that gives him trouble. Can he beat southpaws? Yes. But I haven’t seen him really dominate a southpaw that has multiple threats from southpaw.”
Hill is also a southpaw and there appeared to be no trouble at UFC 300.
“That second fight, when he fought [Israel Adesanya], the second fight against Izzy, go look which way was Izzy standing,” Hill said, referring to Pereira’s knockout loss atop the UFC 287 card in Miami. “These are the things that I pay attention to, the details and things like that. If you have weapons from southpaw, he struggles, he definitely struggles.”
He also struggles with “not-so-good” behavior.
“Khalil doesn’t have a five-round gas tank,” Hill added. “He’s gassed at paces that were much slower than the pace that he’s gonna have to fight Alex. Alex is gonna come out slow, take his time, kinda close in and try to find his shots. He wants to find his shot and start breaking down your defense. He’s a lot more forward-imposing than he looks.”
The winner of Pereira vs. Rountree will likely defend the title against the winner of this fight.
For the current UFC 307 fight card and PPV lineup click here.