"I didn't expect that" - Khalil Rountree Jr.'s ex-training partner weighs in on UFC 307 title shot against Alex Pereira

Khalil Rountree and Alex Pereira will battle for the latter's UFC light heavyweight title in the coming weeks and a previous training partner of Rountree has offered his thoughts on the fight booking.

The combatant in question is Aaron Jeffery who battles former Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima on Sept. 7 in the featured fight of Bellator Champion Series.

Speaking on the most recent edition of MMA Canada, Jeffery touched on Pereira vs. Rountree and said:

"Yeah, man. I didn't expect that. I mean I guess Khalil he's in the rankings and he's been doing well. But I mean I had no idea that he was that close to a title shot but I'm super happy for him, man. He's such a nice guy like a humble, sweet guy. So it's awesome to see that."

He added:

"I've trained with him. I was at Syndicate, when was I there for the first time? 2019, I don't remember if he was there then but anways I've known him for quite a while. He's always been super nice to me, helped me out a lot in my training, and he's a f****** beast, man. So I think that should be a pretty good fight."

Check out Jeffery discussing Rountree vs. Pereira at UFC 307 below (6:38):

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Khalil Rountree and his road to this UFC title shot

Khalil Rountree is riding a five-fight winning streak into this championship clash against the Brazilian knockout artist.

The 34-year-old began this streak with consecutive second round finishes via strikes over Modestas Bukauskas and Karl Roberson, respectively. Rountree then secured a split decision win over Dustin Jacoby but got back to his finishing ways thereafter.

'The War Horse' would then stop Chris Daukaus with a straight left at the 2:40 mark of round one. Rountree would then stop former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith early in the third round following an uppercut left hook combo.

The California native was then set to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill at UFC 303 until he was temporarily suspended after consuming a banned substance.