Khalil Rountree Jr. makes startling revelation, says he fought Alex Pereira at UFC 307 despite plastic surgeon's warning regarding his nose

UFC light heavyweight contender Khalil Rountree Jr. recently revealed suprising information regarding his title fight against Alex Pereira. 'The War Horse' did an interview with Kevin Iole and shared that he had suffered a cut on his nose three weeks prior to the championship fight.

Rountree Jr. added that he visited a plastic surgeon to fix the injury but was warned about the possibility of the wound opening up during the fight:

"Three weeks before the fight, I was sparring and my training partner's glove split the front of my nose. We went straight to the plastic surgeon. I was like, 'Hey man, we need to make this look like it never happened.' He did his best but he did say, 'Hey, chances are, the first time you get hit, it's gonna open just because there's not enough time for it to fully heal.' So, you know, I knew that was gonna happen."

Check out Khalil Rountree Jr.'s comments below (6:06):

Rountree Jr. and Pereira headlined UFC 307 on Oct. 5. The event was held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The contest proved to be a thoroughly entertaining affair as both fighters had moments of success in the bout. The fight ended with Pereira scoring a TKO victory in the fourth round.

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Khalil Rountree Jr. speaks about returning to action after the Alex Pereira fight

During his conversation with Iole, Khalil Rountree Jr. also discussed the possible timeline for his return to the octagon. 'The War Horse' shared that the first quarter of 2025 appears to be ideal for his comeback.

When asked about facing Jamahal Hill upon his return, Rountree Jr. added that he was open to the challenge:

"I'm very excited to come back and fight again, but it will probably be [quarter 1] next year... I want to come back and be very skillful and strategic and just make sure that I make the right decisions... Yeah absolutely. I think [a fight against Jamahal Hill is] almost inevitable, right? I think he's ranked No. 3. I think anyone up there in the top five is kind of inevitable, so let's see what happens." [From 11:20 onwards]

Rountree Jr. and 'Sweet Dreams' were matched up for UFC 303 but the 34-year-old had to withdraw from the fight after accidentally consuming a banned substance.