‘I Felt It’ Alex Pereira Responds to Being Hurt by Rountree Jr. in Round 2 of UFC 307 Main Event
Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. went to war at UFC 307, and damage was sustained on both sides.
Surprisingly, this battle played out almost exclusively on the feet. Rountree and Pereira never really committed to takedowns; instead, the duo opted to have a high-stakes kickboxing match.
Things stayed pretty even in the first three rounds, but the tide would definitely change in round four. Pereira didn’t push much of a tempo in the first three rounds and instead just reacted to what Rountree Jr. dished out and provided his own consistent but not overwhelmingly active offense in return.
The calf kicks were flowing despite Rountree Jr. being a southpaw. And while Rountree saw a lot of success with his hands in the early rounds, it was almost a trap laid by the champion. Pereira seemingly felt out his opponent in those first three rounds while taking care not to fall behind volume-wise.
In round two, however, the champion experienced a very sketchy moment when he seemed to get dropped momentarily by his hungry opposition.
Alex Pereira comments on The sketchy moment in the second round of Khalil Rountree Jr. Fight
What happened was like poetry in motion. Khalil Rountree Jr. slipped a headkick from Pereira and appeared to wobble his opponent with a slick counter punch. Sadly, this would be Rountree’s biggest moment of the fight, and it was all downhill from there.
Pereira began to apply more pressure as the fight aged, and in round four, it was all over. The Brazilian wasted no time in walking forward and landing damage. He steadily landed sharp strikes on his opponent all round long, and by the end of things, he reduced Rountree Jr. into a swollen and bloody mess that crumpled onto the canvas In defeat.
After his victory and successful title defense, Alex Pereira explained what it was like during that sketchy moment in round two of the fight.
“If it’s the moment that I’m thinking of, I felt [the strike]. But I’ve got to rewatch it, I’m not sure,” Alex Pereira told media at the post-fight press conference. “I think it was something spinning, maybe. I had my back to him. I don’t remember. (But) I felt it.”
How close do you think Pereira was to getting finished during that hectic moment in round two of the fight?
