Khalil Rountree Jr. knows a thing or two about fighting Alex Pereira.
“War Horse” went four-plus rounds with “Poatan” atop the UFC 307 fight card last fall, one of the former champion’s most complete performances. That’s why Rountree Jr. was so puzzled by the half-assed offense from the Brazilian when Pereira dropped an uninspired decision to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 back in March.
Too many side quests?
“It was hard for me to watch that fight and to score it,” Rountree said in an interview with MMA Today (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “It was very hard for me to watch it from the standpoint of, you know, like, analyzing because I was there, front row. And when I saw Alex walk out, I just, for some reason, I don’t even know if I’m right by saying this. If this comes up and Alex explains this, then that’s fine. But I just felt that the Alex that walked out that night was a different Alex that walked out the night that him and I fought. I just saw it because I was still — I know what it’s like to be there in the cage. I remember that day everyday. So when I saw him walking out for Ankalaev, I just saw like a different guy. I know that sometimes he’ll take his time, he’ll do the calf kicks, he’ll kind of read the movements of the opponents.”
Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for “Big Ank” to respond.
Khalil bum tree it was not first row like he said he was the third row
— Muhammad big ANK Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) April 20, 2025
Ankalaev has turned in a few duds of his own.
“After the second, third round, when I saw that [Pereira] really wasn’t attacking, and the rest of my experience of the fight was just, I watched it in frustration,” Rountree Jr. added. “I couldn’t even really watch it. I was like, ‘I don’t understand what’s going on because it shouldn’t be like this. It doesn’t have to be like this.’ And so I don’t know how I scored it. I just saw it, and I was like kind of confused, because I was expecting the same guy that came in and fought me to go in there and do the same thing. I wanted to see what that experience was like from the outside. Like, okay yeah, I remember being in there, and I was like, ‘No, it was nothing like this when I was in there. Like, what the heck?’”
It was a performance that had a considerable amount of “substance,” so to speak.
Ankalaev and Pereira are expected to run it back later this year, once “Poatan” is done with his latest round of travel commitments. As for Rountree Jr., he can work his way back to a 205-pound title fight by defeating Jamahal Hill in the UFC Baku main event in June.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
