Former foe Israel Adesanya reacts to the moment longtime rival Alex “Poatan” Pereira finished Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 307
UFC 307 at The Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah concluded with an epic Light-Heavyweight brawl. The two combatants Pereira and Rountree slugged it out for four rounds in what started as a very close contest.
From fight week to the walkout, Rountree maintained his stoic disposition in the face of “Poatan”. He sustained his fearless demeanour throughout the fight showing incredible endurance and heart.
Rounds 1 and 2 came as a shock to many with Rountree picking his shots and seemingly getting the better of Pereira. Neither fighter considered changing levels, standing and banging till the conclusion of the fight.
In the second round, Rountree slipped under a narrowly missed high kick from Pereira and caught him with a right hook. Grounding “Poatan” and lighting up the arena in a rare lapse of judgement from the typically calculated Pereira.
Alex recovered from the strike and from that moment on turned up the heat. As the trademark low kicks of Pereira accumulated Rountree appeared more stationary, allowing Pereira to unload increasingly devastating volume.
By the fourth round, Pereira had found his flow slipping almost everything thrown at him and responding. The referee allowed Rountree every opportunity to fight on, but a pair of body shots sent Khalil to the ground for good.
Longtime rival Israel Adesanya reacted to Pereira’s victory along with comedian Andrew Schulz on his YouTube channel.
Israel Adesanya’s Reaction to Alex Pereira’s UFC 307 TKO Victory
Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya has faced Pereira four times winning one and losing three. Given his history with “Poatan” whenever he fights Adesanya tunes in.
Despite the previous encounters Adesanya picked Pereira to win stating:
“If Khalil Knocks him out that would be amazing, but I think Alex Knocks him out”
The former Middleweight champion Adesanya would call the conclusion of the fight early on with great accuracy:
“Khalil is better early on, I think he has to [knock Alex out now] otherwise Poatan is going to get those leg kicks going again because the way he’s throwing those leg kicks is impressive and his hands are up, his hands are up more than most fights.”
The shocking 2nd round knockdown for Rountree lit up Israel’s watch along, but the dust quickly settled:
“This fight is bated breath because at any moment, even Khalil could still drop him, but Alex could knock him the f*** out…. Oh no! He’s fine, he’s fine – it was a flash [knockdown], it was a flash [knockdown].”
Once the leg kicks piled up Israel Adesanya saw Pereira smell blood in the water and knew the ending was in sight:
“I can feel it, he’s on him – Pereira’s on him, I can feel it, I can feel it [and] now it’s going to be CHAMA time.”
After the fight Adesanya had nothing but praise for Khalil Rountree Jr, he said:
“F***, Khalil is tough but he’s not tough enough – toughness gets you hurt… Good on him, he lasted longer than I thought he would but at least someone else got him to the fourth round, that shows how good Khalil is.”
Adding:
“He’s [Pereira] got some hard fights in front of him, but he is that guy right now… Shoutout to Khalil and his heart, fighting with a broken nose, a f***** eye, he knew not to blow his nose in the fight, respect and stock will go up after this… What a moment.”
Despite losing the fight Khalil earned the respect of UFC legend Israel Adesanya and MMA fans worldwide. Other than Adesanya, Khalil is the only fighter to make it to the championship rounds with Pereira.
Given the danger Pereira possesses Khalil proved he belongs at the top.
Featured image credits to
Embed from Getty Images
