5 MMA veterans Alex Pereira proved absolutely wrong with UFC 307 victory

Alex Pereira maintained his tradition of delivering exciting fights every time he steps into the octagon. The former Glory kickboxing middleweight and light heavyweight champion has wreaked havoc since debuting in the UFC in Nov. 2021.

The former UFC middleweight champion and reigning UFC light heavyweight champion's most recent fight saw him put his light heavyweight belt at stake against fellow striking wizard Khalil Rountree Jr. It promised to be an all-striking showdown and didn't disappoint one bit.

Ultimately, 'Poatan' defeated Rountree via fourth-round TKO to retain his 205-pound title and close out the UFC 307 (Oct. 5, 2024) PPV. It was a dominant performance, particularly vicious toward the end.

Furthermore, in his post-fight octagon interview, Alex Pereira indicated that he'd rather stay at light heavyweight, ruling out a potential middleweight title fight against Dricus du Plessis. He's still seemingly open to a heavyweight move but pointed out that he's happy to keep defending his light heavyweight belt.

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Today, we look at a few MMA veterans who picked Rountree for the upset and were proven wrong.

#5 Daniel Cormier deemed Khalil Rountree Jr. as a 'trap fight' for Alex Pereira

In a recent episode of Funky and the Champ, former UFC fighters Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren broke down the UFC 307 clash between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. Like most others, they seemingly acknowledged that Pereira was a massive favorite to retain his title by beating Rountree.

Nevertheless, Cormier alluded to the fight being held in Salt Lake City -- a city that's produced monumental upsets in 2022 (with Leon Edwards rallying for a last-round KO against Kamaru Usman) and 2023 (with Gaethje avenging a previous knockout defeat by knocking out Dustin Poirier).

'DC' indicated that akin to the 'trap games' in football, Alex Pereira could potentially be in for a trap against the relatively lower-ranked Khalil Rountree Jr. Cormier speculated that the variables at play, in addition to Rountree's vaunted KO power, could spell doom for the champion. Cormier said:

"This feels like a trap game for Alex Pereira. And if he ain't ready, it seems like Khalil Rountree, with his power, can knock him out."

Watch Daniel Cormier's assessment below (27:27):

#4 Kamaru Usman's bold prediction

Incidentally, Kamaru Usman, who lost UFC welterweight championship in a major upset against Leon Edwards in Salt Lake City, was one of the biggest names in MMA who predicted a major upset at UFC 307. On his Pound 4 Pound podcast with former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo, Usman recently picked Khalil Rountree Jr. to KO Pereira.

'The Nigerian Nightmare' asserted that those sitting at home thinking Rountree has no chance were highly mistaken. He further alluded to Salt Lake City, Utah, having witnessed major upsets (including his own loss!). Usman insinuated that even if Rountree doesn't grapple with 'Poatan,' he still possesses adequate striking skills to knock him out and shock the world:

"I think Khalil Rountree shocks the world ... Shocks the world ... Crazy things happen in Utah, and look at our champions right now."

Watch Kamaru Usman's assessment below:

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#3 Brendan Schaub

Taking to his ThicccBoy YouTube channel, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub asserted that the Alex Pereira matchup would be a tough one for Khalil Rountree Jr. Nevertheless, he made an allusion to Rountree being his friend and seemed to warn that 'The War Horse' shouldn't be underestimated.

Schaub implied that Rountree has an affinity for striking, which is generally a bad idea against a kickboxing specialist like Pereira. That said, the fighter-turned-comedian underscored that Rountree boasts a speed advantage over the champion, adding that his southpaw stance could work to his advantage at UFC 307:

"We love Khalil. Khalil's a buddy. Tough matchup. You know. He just sits there and trades. He's gonna have a speed advantage over Alex. That's the one thing, he has that speed advantage. Southpaw, speed advantage. He can give Alex some problems. Now I'll say it, I know, 'He's your boy, so you're biased.'"

'Big Brown' notably harked back to combat sports megastar Israel Adesanya knocking Pereira out in their MMA rematch. Schaub noted that 'The War Horse' could pull off something similar. He opined that betting on the underdog Khalil Rountree Jr. against Alex Pereira wouldn't be unwise:

"You shouldn't be surprised if Khalil were able to knock Alex out. We've seen Alex get knocked out before. Is Khalil a better striker than 'Izzy' [Israel Adesanya]? No. Is he more of a knockout artist? Yes. So don't be surprised. It's not crazy ... Not a bad idea if you want to go ... and bet on Khalil."

Watch Brendan Schaub's assessment below:

#2 Dan Ige

UFC featherweight staple Dan Ige made waves for his short-notice performance against Diego Lopes at the Alex Pereira-starrer UFC 303 event back in June. Speaking of which, Ige also weighed in on the Pereira-Rountree matchup heading into UFC 307 and emphasized that he'd go against the opinion of most others and pick Rountree to upset the apple cart.

'50K' particularly drew attention to Rountree being an unconventional combatant and just as dangerous of a fighter as Pereira. Speaking to James Lynch, Ige stated:

"Honestly, that's a crazy fight. Just the way it all happened. Man, Pereira's so good, and it's so hard to pick against him. But I'm gonna be the bad guy, and I'm gonna root for Rountree on this one just because I think he's just as dangerous, and he's awkward, and he's not like a conventional fighter. I think he can just be explosive and athletic and get it done or get knocked out."

Ige added:

"Yeah. I truly believe he can win. He's one of the best, and he's fighting for the title for a reason."

Watch Dan Ige's assessment below (1:21):

#1 Chael Sonnen

When the Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. fight was first announced, certain sections of the combat sports community protested by arguing that the UFC was giving one of its top stars (Pereira) an easy stylistic matchup in Rountree. They asserted that grappling savant Magomed Ankalaev should've instead been granted his long-awaited title shot against Pereira.

Well, MMA legend Chael Sonnen put forth an assessment that was an extreme contradiction of the aforementioned hypothesis. Speaking to co-host Daniel Cormier on ESPN's Good Guy / Bad Guy show, Sonnen contrarily opined that Rountree would handily beat Pereira.

Over the past few weeks, Sonnen has maintained that if the UFC was indeed trying to protect its star, someone had made a massive matchmaking error by pitting him against Rountree. He explained that 'The War Horse' does his best work against aggressive kickboxers and will shock the world by putting a beatdown on the champion. Speaking to Cormier, Sonnen predicted: