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UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira proved yet again that standing against him inside the octagon is bad for your health. At UFC 307 last weekend, 'Poatan' unleashed an inhuman amount of punishment on Khalil Rountree Jr. en route to a dominant TKO win to defend his throne.
This win, on top of three world title finishes this year, puts into perspective Pereira's sole loss inside the octagon – a second-round KO courtesy of his rival, Israel Adesanya, last year. The Nigerian-born former UFC middleweight champion's victory over Pereira was further analyzed by Kamaru Usman in his podcast, Pound 4 Pound.
Usman said:
"I don't want to take anything away from Alex Pereira and what he's done but this makes Israel Adesanya's finish of Alex Pereira even more, I mean, to put a guy like that away... That makes it even more impressive. For what Israel Adesanya was able to do. To be able to stop a titan like that, it makes it even more impressive. But not to take anything away. This is Alex Pereira's moment. I mean what a fantastic, fantastic, systematic breakdown."
Check out Kamaru Usman's comments below:
Israel Adesanya provides live reaction to Alex Pereira's win at UFC 307
Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira have had a long rivalry that spanned more than seven years and spilled over two sports. Between 2016 and 2017, 'The Last Stylebender' and 'Poatan' faced each other in Glory kickboxing, in which the Brazilian defeated his Nigerian-born rival twice in a row.
The two faced each other once again in MMA in 2022, where Pereira knocked out Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title. A few months later, 'The Last Stylebender' finally avenged his losses to 'Poatan' by scoring his own knockout to reclaim his throne at UFC 287.
Pereira then decided to move up to 205 pounds and eventually captured UFC gold. Still, his old rival keeps a close eye on him. In a video uploaded on YouTube, Adesanya provided live reaction to Pereira's bout against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307.
Needless to say, Adesanya was thoroughly impressed by the UFC light heavyweight king. He said:
"[Pereira] is that guy right now... Shout out to Khalil because, heart. Fighting with a broken nose, f****d eye, and intelligence not to blow his nose even in the fight, respect."
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below (7:38):
