“Khalil Rountree Jr. is going to walk through Pereira. That is the worst matchup I could think of,” said Chael Sonnen when he was asked about the matchup between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. This analogy by ‘The American Gangster’ came after certain people from the community accused the promotion of protecting their golden boy. However, how much of reality is there in Sonnen’s statement? Well, the recent sparring footage by the light heavyweight champion appears to be so lethal that it could put ‘The War Horse’s record and the ‘Bad Guy’s claim in danger.

Dana White shocked the world when he announced that #8 ranked Khalil Rountree would be taking on Alex Pereira for the light-heavyweight title. The matchup rather alarmed the world as fans were anticipating Pereira to clash against Magomed Ankalaev, but the promotion appears to have a different plan for the light-heavyweight division. The MMA community initially believed that ‘War Horse’ would be an easy fight for Pereira, but after Chael Sonnen’s statement, opinions have started to diverge.

“Mike Tyson used to make guys quit in the back, Cain Velasquez would have guys wilt in the back, Anderson Silva would make guys wilt in the back as they were so scared of what was going to happen. (Alex) Pereira is entering that territory…(Khalil) Rountree is the wrong match-up!” said Chael Sonnen.

The diverging opinions of the MMA community were going against Alex Pereira as they believed that Rountree would ‘walkthrough’ Pereira as per Sonnen, but the recent sparring video of the light heavyweight champ has raised some doubts in the minds of the fans.

Fans worry about Khalil Rountree Jr after the latest Alex Pereira sparring footage

With a dominant kickboxing record of 33 victories, 7 losses, and 21 knockouts in Glory Kickboxing and a fascinating record of 11 victories and 2 defeats in MMA, Alex Pereira has one of the most decorated resumes in the history of the promotion. His dominant Kickboxing skills have helped him get past his opponents with ease. Looking at the stats, a fan wrote, “Alex has an extraordinarily ability to always find the counter shot.”

Jiri Prochazka accused Alex Pereira of using some kind of ritual in his match. The light-heavyweight champion denied the allegations, but after his knockout victory against Prochazka, even some of the fans believed that there was a different level of aura around the fighter. “he basically sparring the grim reaper.”

Furthermore, a fan believes that Alex Perira will be robbed of his victory if he replicates what Dustin Jacoby did to Rountree, “This exactly what he gonna do with Khalil, just like Dustin Jacoby did with him and got robbed, what happened when pereira fought Jacoby ⁉️”

A man offers a key to victory to Rountree, but most of it seems to be sarcastic, “Just throw a jab it’s not hard to rock Pereira.” Moreover, a fan called for a liver shot, “Liver shot.”

Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. is scheduled to happen in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA on October 5th. Who do you think would emerge victorious in their clash? State your thoughts in the comments below.