Khalil Rountree is looking to put on a fight for the fans when he competes for a UFC world title for the first-ever against Alex Pereira at UFC 307. The 34-year-old recently revealed that he’s expecting a striking war with ‘Poatan’ next month, but longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan and his recent guests on the ‘JRE MMA Show’, believe that Pereira is going to show some unexpected moves in his third title defense.

Alex Pereira has become one of the most active champions in the UFC right now, and also, unstoppable at the same time. However, Joe Rogan believes he’ll be in for a tough outing against Khalil Rountree, who Matt Serra, one of the recent guests on Rogan’s podcast, believes is going to face the wrath of ‘Poatan”s ground game. “I think this is gonna be a wild take [and] I don’t think it’s gonna be a popular take, [but] I think that Pereira is gonna mix in a takedown,”
Matt Serra stated.

Of course, there’s a reason for Matt Serra’s claim about Alex Pereira using a new offensive tactic at UFC 307. And if you’ve guessed it, yes, it’s because of his association with his mentor and former UFC champion, Glover Teixeira. Maybe the protege will take a page or two from his mentor’s playbook. “You don’t get more confident on the feet than him, but he hangs out with our good friend Glover Teixeira, and you see him sparring, you see him mixing that sh*t in,” Serra further disclosed to Joe Rogan.

The other two guests on Joe Rogan’s show, Din Thomas and John Rallo, also chimed into the conversation as Thomas reminded the host, “He did shoot on Izzy,” recalling the time when Alex Pereira attempted takedowns against Israel Adesanya. However, Rogan claims that adding takedowns to his arsenal can really be unstoppable, given how strong ‘Poatan’ really is.

Joe Rogan stated, “Well, he’s gotta learn it, right? He is learning it and why not just do that too? If he could just mix that in, how many more strikes would he land, too?” While Rogan and his JRE guests believe ‘Poatan’ going to shoot for takedowns, Khalil Rountree, on the other hand, has no such intentions ahead of his first title fight.

Maybe Alex Pereira could go for takedowns, but it’s a no from Khalil Rountree

Ground game, for Alex Pereira, has never been a practical move in a fight. This is why Matt Serra stated beforehand that his prediction that the champion will use the ground game against Khalil Rountree is a “wild take.” However, Rountree doesn’t think there will be any takedown attempts from either him or Pereira himself. Moreover, the challenger has never attempted that move ever in his career.

“I have no intention on shooting any takedowns or trying to take what people would consider the easy route… I want to put on a fight to remember. For me, this is a fight that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Khalil Rountre told Michael Bisping. What do you think? Will the fight be a clean, striking game?

Let us know what you think about Joe Rogan and his guests’ comments about Alex Pereira’s game plan, in the comments below.