Readying to make his third appearance this year is UFC light heavyweight champion, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira returns to the octagon this weekend at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah against Khalil Rountree. And ahead of the hotly anticipated LHW banger his former rival, Israel Adesanya has a wholesome message for ‘Poatan’, revealing his desire to see the 37-year-old stay undefeated.
Dropping his thoughts on the upcoming UFC 307 card, Izzy predicted:
“I just think ‘Poatan’ is just on a f**king tear right now, he’s just too too good. Bro, I hope he retires undefeated like not undefeated but you know like the rest of his career…’I beat that n***a one time!'”
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While they themselves have met each other in the cage for a total of two times, with each fighter having bested each other, their rivalry is has turned healthy now. In fact, ‘Poatan‘ has even credited Adesanya for inspiring him to come to UFC and change his life for good.
Amidst, his reign of absolute dominance, ‘The Last Stylebender’ wished that his kickboxing rival retire undefeated with a legacy intact.
Izzy backs Pereira against Rountree
‘The War Horse’ Khalil is on a five-fight win streak with a solid base in Muay Thai. His explosiveness and balls-to-the-wall attitude have prompted many analysts to back him, predicting that he would shock the champion with an upset, not Adesanya.
Having fought the former Glory two-division champion twice, Izzy certainly knows what it feels to hang in there with Pereira. During an appearance on ‘The Adam Carolla Show,’ he said,
“Just off the cuff, I’ll go Pereira because [of] momentum right now, Rountree doesn’t grapple. He likes to kickbox, he’s never gone for a takedown. If you’re going to do that with Pereira … and I’m the only one who has ever rocked him, or stood with him in the UFC, everyone else, he’s washed. Rountree, I feel like, if he can make it dirty and catch him, he can catch him. But it’s so hard to do with Pereira because, Rountree, his reach might not be able to get to him.”
Now, it is interesting to see Izzy dissect the fight the way he did but there are many who believe this might have been the absolute worst match up for the Brazilian since Rountree is a counter puncher with some serious torque and accuracy in his shots. And as Pereira likes to keep moving forward, the American might just find his shot.
