Alex Pereira is defending his UFC Light Heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree Jr. on October 5 in Salt Lake City. This is going to be the third time that Poatan is defending his title.
Alex Pereira (11-2) is generally considered the greatest striker in the world. It’s not only in mixed martial arts but all combat sports. He’s a former kickboxing champion while under contract with Glory, who moved to the MMA universe in 2015.
After losing by submission on his professional MMA debut, he went on to win the next seven fights, getting ahold of the UFC Middleweight title along the way. He lost the championship belt to his old foe Israel Adesanya, after which he moved up a weight class.
On his Light Heavyweight debut, he beat Jan Blachowicz by a split decision. Then, he beat Jiri Prochazka for the vacant 205lb title. It happened last year, while in 2024, we saw him defend his title twice already – against Jamahal Hill and Prochazka.
Each of those three title fights, Poatan won by KO/TKO, showing the world that he’s incredibly lethal with his striking. He’s confident he can do it again, and UFC 307 odds suggest he’ll do it. However, keep in mind that the last time he fought was just three months ago, which could mean that he’s not taking the October 5 fight too seriously.
You can bet that Khalil Rountree Jr. (13-5-1) is taking the UFC 307 fight extremely seriously. This is the biggest fight of his life, and if he loses, he probably won’t get another shot at the title.
The thing is that he was kind of lucky to get to challenge for the championship belt. He’s 8th in the divisional rankings, but most of the light heavyweights ranked above him have already been given a title shot.
Obviously, he’s going to go all-in in the UFC 307 main event, but the question is whether he’s got the skills to beat such an elite opponent as Alex Pereira. “The War Horse” is a great striker and his incredible power is his main advantage. He’s got 9 wins by KO/TKO in his portfolio, which shows how dangerous he actually is.
