“Poatan by Submission” – Alex Pereira’s Sparring Sessions Leak Strategy as Fans Divided Ahead of UFC 307 Against Khalil Rountree

Ale͏x Pereira and K͏halil Ro͏untree Jr. ar͏e set to ͏face o͏ff at ͏UFC 3͏07. T͏he light-heav͏yweight cham͏pion will be defen͏ding his belt for the thi͏rd time this y͏ear, making hi͏m one͏ o͏f the most ac͏tive cham͏pions ͏on the͏ ͏roster. This fight is͏ particularly unique as it featu͏res a sh͏ow͏down betwee͏n two high-͏c͏aliber stri͏kers. So will the striking expert finally throw down some takedowns? Well, Alex Pereira’s recent training video has stunned the MMA world as he can be seen not only dominating people with trapping but also tossing them like toys.

Ahead of his highly anticipated bout against Khalil Rountree, Alex Pereira appears to be experimenting with his grappling skills. In one of his recent training videos, ‘Poatan’ can be seen tossing his teammates here and there. Well, this is quite new for the world to witness as Pereira seldom showcases his wrestling skills. Nevertheless, will Rountree go for the takedown or fight standing up? According to the 205-pound belt challenger, he would fight the champion standing up.

While in conversation with Michael Bisping, Rountree explained that he would not go for takedown even once as this is not his style to fight like that, “I literally have no intention of shooting for takedowns or trying to take what people would consider the easy route. I’m here to honestly, 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. This is a moment in my story I’m going to remember.”

It must be noted that out of all the fighters under the promotion, Alex Pereira’s knockout power comes at the top. Th͏e͏ ͏͏light-heavywe͏ig͏ht ͏ch͏ampion has def͏ea͏ted ͏h͏is la͏st ͏thre͏e o͏pponen͏ts͏ by kn͏oc͏k͏out i͏n͏ consecu͏tiv͏e fight͏s͏, a͏nd it appears that h͏e is now fo͏cusi͏ng͏ on submissions. Ne͏vertheless,͏ the͏ commu͏n͏i͏ty is somew͏hat s͏hoc͏ked.

Alex Pereira’s takedown caught the MMA fans off guard as they alerted Khali Rountree

Starting off, a fan sarcastically asserted that Alex Pereira would clinch the victory by way of submission. It must be noted that in his entire career, Pereira has never submitted anyone. Most of his victories came by way of a knockout. If we were to take his UFC career, then Pereira has 6 knockout victories out of his 9 UFC fights, “I’ve seen enough. Poatan by submission.”

What’s the one thing that scares the fighters when they are inside the Octagon with Alex Pereira? It’s his left hook. The fighter has knocked out various opponents with that move. Some of them are Sean Strickland and Jamahal Hill. Looking at that a fan wrote, “Alex via submission (his submission is the left hook).”

Jailton Almeida can be considered as the polar opposite of Alex Pereira with a single expectation and that is he fights in the heavyweight division. A fan wrote,  “Omg Alex can now go and fight jailton almeida now that’ll go well.”

It must be noted that ‘WarHorse’ is also known as a knockout specialist. Out of his 15 fights under the promotion, Rountree has finished 7 fights by way of knockouts. Looking at this, fans wrote,  “Gotta be careful messing around with Khalil in those positions he has nasty strikes from in close in clinch”

Furthermore, a fan alerted Rountree,  “@khalilrountree he gonna try this on you.” Last but not the least, a fan highlighted that Alex Pereira doesn’t even need wrestling,“Bro doesn’t even need wrestling.” Perrira’s last few outings have showcased his sheer knockout power, be it the Khaby Lame style ending of ‘How it’s Done’ in UFC 300, or knocking the lights out of Jiří Procházka in UFC 303.

What’s your take on Alex Pereira’s takedown skills? Do you expect the light-heavyweight champion to use grappling during his fight against Khalil Rountree? State your thoughts in the comments below.