Tag: Khalil Rountree

Even before his return to the Octagon at UFC 307, light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira was hit with a series of setbacks.

Putting his gold on the line for the third time in 2024 against 205-pound knockout artist Khalil Rountree Jr, Pereira delivered another sensational showing, scoring a vicious fourth-round KO.

But perhaps even more impressive than his victory was the fact that ‘Poatan’ had overcome so many obstacles in the weeks leading up to fight night.

“Oh, man, when I look back… ever since I accepted this fight, I was in Brazil dealing with visa issues and couldn’t get back to the United States, right? So I already had that difficulty,” Pereira said during an appearance on the JAXXON podcast with former UFC titleholder Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.

“Then, around that same time, I got sick with the flu or some kind of virus—I don’t even know what it was—and had to take antibiotics. On top of that, my rib was messed up, my toe ligament was injured, and then when I finally got back to the United States, I was starting to feel better, but I had to take antibiotics again because I got sick again.

“So, man, it was a fight just to get to the fight. After my performance, you know, going four rounds, pushing through everything in that last round… man, I think it was really…”

Alex Pereira returns to the main event spotlight at uFC 313

Next up for Alex Pereira is a showdown with the light heavyweight division’s top-ranked contender, Magomed Ankalaev. The long-awaited clash will headline UFC 313 on March 8 when the promotion heads back to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Boasting an impressive 11-1-1 record, Ankalaev earned his title opportunity with seven straight wins, including victories over Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith, Johnny Walker, and Aleksandar Raki?.

Blind or not, Khalil Rountree wasn’t about to throw in the towel against Alex Pereira.

Much to the surprise of everyone, Rountree found himself with a shot at the reigning light heavyweight king at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City. Though the announcement left a lot of fans scratching their heads, there was no doubt that the two heavy hitters would deliver an absolutely banger in The Crossroads of the West.

And that’s exactly what they did.

For nearly four rounds, ‘Poatan’ and ‘The War Horse’ went toe-to-toe with each fighter landing some big blows on the other. But in the end, it was Pereira who would come out on top, battering and bloodying Rountree en route to a TKO with only 32 seconds left in the penultimate round.

Khalil Rountree Couldn’t see against Alex Pereira but he didn’t care

Looking back on their entertaining clash during an appearance on the JAXXON podcast with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Rountree revealed that at one point during the fight he was essentially blind after absorbing some of Pereira’s brutal strikes.

“I mean, in the moment, you don’t necessarily feel it. Like, for instance, in the fight where this cut happened, I got hit –boom,” Rountree said. “I knew I’d been hit hard because my vision started to blur a little. But the second one that landed, the one that actually split my eye, I literally thought, “I’m blind. But f*ck it, I’m gonna keep going.”

“I couldn’t see anything after that. I just saw light — no shadows, no detail. It was like someone put a frosted film over everything. I was like, ‘I can’t see. I’m f*cking blind.’ But whatever, I’m not giving up. The sensation, though — I didn’t feel anything. The adrenaline was too high. I knew my eye was messed up, but I thought, ‘I’ll deal with it later.’”

The loss snapped Rountree’s five-fight win streak while moving Pereira to 9-1 under the UFC banner.