Khalil Rountree Jr. feels Alex Pereira was a different person when he fought against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313!
Alex Pereira has built his reputation on devastating knockouts and calm precision. His rise through the UFC ranks has been nothing short of spectacular. He became the middleweight champion and the light heavyweight king in record time. Fans have grown accustomed to seeing ‘Poatan’ stalk his prey with terrifying efficiency. His left hook has become the stuff of nightmares for opponents. Yet something seemed off when he faced Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 last month.
Khalil Rountree Jr. noticed it too. Having faced Pereira’s wrath firsthand at UFC 307, Rountree knows exactly what the Brazilian is capable of. Their October clash ended with Rountree being finished in the fourth round. But he earned respect for standing toe-to-toe with the champion longer than most. Now Rountree has shared some interesting observations about Pereira’s performance against Ankalaev. Sometimes it takes a fighter to truly understand another fighter’s mindset. And Rountree’s insights suggest something wasn’t quite right with the normally fearsome Brazilian.
Rountree felt that Pereira was not himself in the fight against Ankalaev. During his appearance on MMA Today, he revealed that he was waiting for the ‘Poatan’ that he faced rather than the one Ankalaev was fighting.
“I couldn’t really watch the last few rounds of Pereira vs. Ankalaev. And so I don’t know how I scored it. I just saw it and I was like kind of confused, because I was expecting the same guy that came in and fought me to go in there and do the same thing.”
The normally imposing Pereira seemed hesitant and reserved against Magomed Ankalaev. His trademark aggression and calculated pressure were nowhere to be found. Rountree struggled to even score the fight properly. He was too distracted by the puzzling performance unfolding before his eyes.
What makes Rountree’s observations particularly valuable is his unique perspective. He is not just another analyst offering opinions from the sidelines. He felt Pereira’s power firsthand just months earlier. This intimate knowledge of what it is like to face Pereira at his best left Rountree confused by what he witnessed at UFC 313. The fighter who defeated him seemed replaced by a cautious doppelganger against Ankalaev.
The MMA community has speculated wildly about what caused this shift. Was it an injury? Some sort of sickness (Norovirus rumors)? A bad weight cut? Or did Ankalaev simply neutralize Pereira’s game plan perfectly? Whatever the reason, Rountree’s firsthand comparison between the fighter he faced and the one who lost to Ankalaev paints a picture worth pondering upon.
(Image Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie – Imagn Images)
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