Chael Sonnen Defends Alex Pereira: Deserves Credit for Facing Khalil Rountree Despite Backlash

Chael Sonnen thinks that the backlash against Alex Pereira for snubbing Magomed Ankalaev is not justified. Pereira is set to take on Khalil Rountree at UFC 307. This will be his third title defense of this year against yet another ranked opponent. Regardless,  despite ‘Poatan’ being a very active champiom, fans have been complaining about him ‘ducking’ a fight.

Although Sonnen is of the opinion that Rountree is a bad matchup for  Pereira, he still gives the champ credit for taking this fight.

In a recent video uploaded on his social media channels, Sonnen supported Pereira’s decision to fight the American and even praised him for it,

“Pereira should be getting credit for fighting Rountree and I feel as though the opposite is happening….And it is a disaster of a matchup for Alex.”

 

 

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The former middleweight contender spoke about how fans have a notion that it was Pereira’s fault that the Ankalaev fight didn’t materialize, when it was in fact Ankalaev who had already been booked for a different fight.

But Sonnen’s defense of Poatan ends here.

The former UFC fighter also believes that  Rountree will not only beat ‘Poatan’, but he will do it very easily, which could be one of the biggest upsets of the year.

However, for the Brazilian fighter, there are bigger aspirations than Rountree at the moment. He is planning to go back down to middleweight and challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the title.

Pereira at middleweight?

Pereira had hinted at a move to middleweight after Dricus Du Plessis choked out Israel Adesanya. Although fans did not fully believe the champion at the time.

Well, ‘Poatan’ is very serious about it and even called out the South African.

“Regardless of the result I want to go down one more time to the middleweight and go for the belt. Hey Dricus, bring your will to fight me so you can prove that you are better than me”

 

 

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Now, Pereira has also talked about moving up to heavyweight to fight for the title there. But that could end up being really disastrous for the Brazilian. Firstly, getting a title shot at heavyweight is a challenge, courtesy of the current champion Jon Jones being injured and picking and choosing who he should fight.

Then there is the interim champion Tom Aspinall, who has defended his title already and has never even been into the second round of a fight in his career.

So, a middleweight move would be the wiser choice but then again, he can always stay at light heavyweight and if he goes through Rountree, can grant Magomed Ankalaev the title shot he deserves.