Alex Pereira is ready to fight for the third time this year at UFC 307. It will be his third title defense and this time it’s against knockout artist Khalil Rountree. Going into the fight, the challenger had big plans against the champion except for one particular thing.
Khalil Rountree has an undefeated five-fight winning streak and has a whopping nine knockout finishes in his professional career. On the other hand, ‘Poatan’ has the touch of death and has knocked out some of the best in the promotion. Still going into UFC 307, the fighter has promised that he would like to keep the fight on his feet.
In my career, I’ve never shot one takedown. That’s not in my plans. I’m here to put on an amazing fight for the fans…This fight not gonna disappoint.
Khalil Rountree via The Schmo YouTube channel
According to the challenger, it’s going to be a classic battle of strikers. However, in the past, this has never ended well for anybody. Jamahal Hill said the same before fighting Pereira and got flatlined in the first round. On the other hand, the one who came close to beating Pereira is Jan Blachowicz who used wrestling to his full advantage
Similarly, Jiri Prochazka benefited from the best wrestling exchanges in his first encounter with Alex Pereira. However, he lost twice to the Brazilian. Similarly, heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has stated that he would like to take Pereira to the ground instead of striking. All of the evidence suggests that wrestling with Pereira is preferable, but Khalil Rountree has other plans.
Khalil Rountree reveals the details about him getting suspended for two months
Before his scheduled fight with Alex Pereira, Khalil Rountree was expected to fight Jamahal Hill at UFC 303. However, two weeks before the fight the fighter pulled out and admitted to taking a banned substance. After that, he was given a brief two-month suspension and now he’s ready for the title shot.
According to Rountree, he accidentally consumed DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone), an anabolic chemical that athletes are not allowed to use at all. In a statement, he stated that he got it from a supplement he was given while training for his bout. In a recent visit to the Jaxxon Podcast, Rountree Jr. went into great detail about his suspension.
My test did come back positive for DHEA, which is non-performance enhancing if you look into it… I never knew what it was…. I didn’t know that I was being given that… It doesn’t do anything to performance from what I’ve read, but UFC did have to issue me a two-month suspension minimum so because I was booked to fight in Nevada, Nevada State also had to issue a separate suspension
Khalil Rountree via JAXXON Podcast
Due to the circumstances, many fans have raised questions about the UFC unfairly giving Rountree a title shot. Jamahal Hill has also slammed the fighter and mentioned that this fight is terrible for the sport. Nevertheless, the stage is set and it would be interesting to see how the title fight turns out at UFC 307.
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