Ex-UFC champion thinks Khalil Rountree can beat Alex Pereira at ‘His own game’
Despite closing as a large betting underdog to beat Alex Pereira at UFC 307, incoming title chaser, Khalil Rountree has been backed as a viable threat to the throne by former middleweight champion, Michael Bisping — who claims the latter may actually prevail in a striking affair.
Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight titleholder and the current light heavyweight gold holder, is scheduled to make his return to action next weekend in the main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, taking on surging number six ranked challenger, Rountree in a bid to defend his crown for the third time this year alone.
As for Rountree, the Ultimate Fighter finalist most recently took home an impressive third round knockout win over former title challenger, Anthony Smith in their December pairing at the UFC Apex facility — earning a scrutinized title charge against the Brazilian.
Khalil Rountree backed to test Alex Pereira’s striking resolve at UFC 307
And despite Rountree’s head coach, John Wood’s prediction that Alex Pereira will use his wrestling to take down his trainee at UFC 307, former champion, Bisping claims a route to success could likely be on the cards for Rountree if he strikes with the Sao Paulo finisher.
“Anthony Smith was able to land some straight rights, and if Smith can land them, you’ve got to think that (Alex) Pereira is going to land them,” Michael Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “But if we dig a little deeper, if we look at some of the other people that he’s [Rountree’s] beaten, there’s a name that stands out, and that name is the one and only Gokhan Saki. When he went up against Khalil Rountree, he got knocked out in the first round.”
“Who is Khalil?” Bisping explained. “Well, Khalil was a kickboxer. He has the confident to put it out there and truly mean it by saying that he’s not going to shoot. He’s going to stand there, go toe to toe, and try to beat Alex Pereira at his own game.”
