UFC 307 is going to be interesting. Alex Pereira will face #8 ranked Khalil Rountree Jr. in Salt Lake City to defend his title and fans expect either of the fighters to stay on their feet for major parts of the fight. In fact, Rountree Jr. had even said that he would fire his coach if he was forced to change his strategy in hopes of taking down his Brazilian opponent. But then, what’s next?

Well, Anthony Smith had some thoughts about Pereira’s upcoming fight and what lies beyond. On Michael Bisping podcast, the retired fighter and Smith discussed the UFC’s light heavyweight division. “I think Jan Blachowicz is probably the most fundamentally sound striker in the whole division,” Smith opined and Bisping thought it was a wild take. But ‘Lionheart’ further explained his thought process. “Jan Blachowicz and Alex fought and I don’t think, with all respect to Alex, I don’t know that Alex won that fight.”

Bisping partially agreed here as both Pereira and Blachowicz looked exhausted and sloppy. They speculated that Salt Lake City’s altitude could have posed some problems. However, let us not forget that UFC 307 too takes place there. So if that was indeed the problem, we hope Pereira found a fix!

Smith continued on the Michael Bisping podcast, “But I thought Jan did well. He did a good job dealing with the leg kicks. He didn’t take any shots to the head, which is hard in a fight with Alex Pereira. In terms of tough guys to deal with. I don’t know. Khalil offensively is probably one of the more dangerous guys that Alex is gonna have to deal with. But I think in terms of problems in front of you, I think Jan Blachowicz is a bigger problem.”

Interesting Fact: In his eight UFC wins (nine fights), Alex Pereira has won six through KO/TKO and two fights via decisions. One of those decision wins was against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 (split).

While ‘Poatan’ won the fight, he surely couldn’t finish the Polish power, and that’s why the latter has been looking for yet another fight. “He is not a better fighter than me, and I believe that I deserve the rematch,” he shared earlier this year. Could this fight happen in the future?

Well, we do not know. For the time being, Pereira is training for the fight against Rountree and is entirely focused on it. If Pereira successfully defends his belt, Magomed Ankalaev (ranked #2) will surely call out the champion for a bout. But that’s all in the future. Right now, Pereira is facing some trouble in the camp.

Why is Alex Pereira having a hard time training for UFC 307?

‘Poatan’ is facing a tough time in training since the altitude for their next fight venue is higher and this means less oxygen and increased breathlessness. Pereira said, “The thing about the altitude is that it’s hard [to train].”

However, he made sure to come up with a solution. “We did this once when I fought [Jan] Blachowicz. We did it for two weeks then, and three weeks now. I think it’s going to be much better,” he said while explaining how he trained in the city for a longer period this time.

He also has a great team to train with this time. He is taking guidance from the retired UFC champion Glover Teixeira. In fact, Sean Strickland too joined him in training against Rountree. Now only time will tell if Pereira can defeat Rountree Jr.

Rountree Jr. is coming off five back-to-back wins and boasts a 13-5 record. Out of 13 wins, nine were via KO/TKO, and four were through decisions. His last fight was against Anthony Smith at UFC Fight Night 233 – Song vs. Gutierrez in December 2023 and ‘The War Horse’ won through TKO in round 3.

As Pereira and Rountree Jr. both seem to be knockout artists, the UFC 307 main event is going to be quite exciting. What do you think?

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