Alex Pereira isn’t taking any chances. The UFC light heavyweight champion will look to cover all bases heading into his title fight against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 in Utah.
A former kickboxing champion, Pereira holds the record for the shortest time (eleven fights) to become a two-division UFC champion. The Brazilian has won three straight contests via knockout to go with nine via the power punch. It is also his third fight of 2024.
Pereira is a true force, partly due to his partnership with former champion Glover Teixeira. This time in Utah, they will team up again to take on a man in Rountree with nine wins via knockout. Despite coming off a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance, time off should not affect Rountree.
Heading to the altitude-changing state early, Pereira has a who’s who of decorated trainers on his team. He has even enlisted the services of former world champion Sean Strickland.
WATCH: Pereira vs. Rountree at UFC 307 on Kayo
“We have a great team here,” said Pereira via MMA Fighting. “We have Glover, Plinio [Cruz], Yousri [Belgaroui], ‘Cesinha’ [Cesar Almeida]. Sean Strickland is also coming next week to train with us here. I’m very happy with this preparation.”
Everyone in his camp serves a purpose. There’s Teixeira, BJJ black belt Cruz, Former kickboxing and LFL champion Belgaroui, and former kickboxing champion Almeida. Strickland is a former UFC middleweight champion who lost against Pereira in 2022. He is 2-1 in his last three fights.
Since their fight, Pereira and Strickland have sparred with one another several times. They trained together for Strickland’s fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. Strickland handily beat Pereira’s rival in kickboxing and MMA. Iron sharpens iron, and “Poatan” believes his skills are legit.
“I spent a few days training with Sean Strickland, and I got to see how talented he is, strategies, how tough he is. I got a better understanding from this training than from actually fighting him,” Pereira said on his YouTube Channel via BJPenn.com.
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