Ever since the title clash between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. was announced, Chael Sonnen had remained very outspoken in his predictions, stating things like, “Khalil Rountree is going to walk through Pereira” and “Rountree is going to whip him.” These comments faced criticism from MMA pundits, who favored ‘Poatan’ as the likely winner. Sonnen carried this stance throughout the entire month leading up to UFC 307 last week, which resulted in the opposite of his expectations.

No doubt ‘The War Horse’ gave Pereira one of the toughest battles of his life; however, he was unsuccessful in ‘walking through him’. After the fight, this outcome became a thorn in Sonnen’s side, which Daniel Cormier addressed when they recently sat together for their podcast.

Chael Sonnen Takes a U-Turn on Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

While speaking to Chael Sonnen on his “Good Guy/Bad Guy” podcast, Cormier threw a pointed question regarding the earlier narrative built by Sonnen on the UFC 307 headline event. Sonnen chimed in to clarify his earlier remark, stating, “Daniel, I had a hold of this, okay? I had a hold of the right tool, but I had it by the wrong end when I was giving you my predictions for this fight.”

‘The American Gangster’ emphasized Alex Pereira’s previous fight against his opponent, claiming, “I thought Khalil was such a live dog if he had 25 minutes to hit his opponent once. And Khalil’s shown that power. The other guys that he has hit once.”

Sonnen further highlighted the absence of grappling in the fight, noting that both fighters had already agreed not to use takedowns. He stated, “When you’re never going to go to the ground, he’s never going to be on top of you, and you’re never going to be on top of him. When you’re not going to grab under hooks and push somebody into the fence, you can’t start playing the leg entanglement game.”

Chael Sonnen’s spooky predictions undoubtedly hype up fans, raising their blood pressure. This even led him to change his mind once Israel Adesanya commented before the Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. fight took place.

Israel Adesanya challenges Chael Sonnen’s verdict

Uncle Sonnen is one of those analysts in the MMA community whose predictions always differ from others. This came to light earlier this month when Alex Pereira announced he was stepping down to 185. Sonnen labeled this move as linked to Israel Adesanya, claiming, “He (Pereira) wants to come in as the big brother to protect his little brother.” This statement turned out to be inaccurate when Alex Pereira expressed his desire to stay at light heavyweight or move to heavyweight due to his sparring partner, Sean Strickland, looking to claim the middleweight title.

Earlier this week, ‘The Last Stylebender’ challenged Sonnen’s narrative regarding the Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. fight, highlighting ‘Poatan’s’ chances of winning. He stated, “This weekend I’m going to go with Pereira, and I’m going to go TKO or KO. I don’t know what round, but I just feel like it’ll be hard for Rountree. He might catch Pereira as Rountree comes in, ’cause Rountree is going to be attacking him. Rountree will be the underdog in this one, but I wouldn’t count him out. ‘Cause Chael [Sonnen] reckons he’s going to win, and Chael thinks he’s going to wash Pereira. I’m like, wait, what does he know that we don’t know? It’s a possibility because, of course, this is fighting, and I know he can.”

What’s your take on Chael Sonnen’s remarks? Do you believe Sonnen is viewing the situation from the “wrong end,” or is he just gaslighting the whole situation? Drop your opinion below.