SALT LAKE CITY – Dana White heaped praise towards Alex Pereira after UFC 307.
Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) was tested early, but ultimately overwhelmed Khalil Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) for a brutal fourth-round TKO to retain his light heavyweight title in Saturday’s main event at Delta Center.
Pereira has now defended his title three times in the span of seven months, and plans on taking a break after battling through adversity to make it to the fight.
“What this guy has done is unbelievable,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 307 post-fight press conference. “And the way that he’s done it, this guy destroys everybody. … This guy always wants to fight. He’s (37), too – it’s not like he’s 28 and he’s got this many fights (left). But we’ll see how it all plays out.”
White said Pereira vs. Rountree was a no-brainer Fight of the Night, and delivered despite many people’s skepticism toward the matchmaking.
“What a hell of a fight. Khalil Rountree, I mean – another level of tough,” White said. “You have to respect this guy, but did this not play out the way everybody thought it would? Everybody at first was like, ‘Oh he’s ranked No. 8.’ But you knew that it was going to be a badass fight. You knew it was going to be badass fight. You can never measure heart. You don’t know how that’s going to go. Well, now you know (with Rountree).
“I felt like the difference was the low leg kick, and when (Pereira) started calf kicking him, he was destroying that leg and he was having trouble putting pressure on it, and he was having trouble with his punching power, his movement, everything. He systematically just started picking him apart.”
White also gave Rountree big props for his aggressive approach, in which he was on the attack from the get go.
“He had no fear from the first round,” White said on Rountree. “Khalil Rountree went in there and started going at it the minute that the bell rang. No fear, no jitters, no nerves. Maybe had some jitters and nerves. If he did, he didn’t show it. He went right in against one of the baddest dudes of all time and just started mixing it up with him. It was awesome.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
