Deal With It!

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

UFC light heavyweight slugger Khalil Rountree Jr., currently ranked No. 8 at 205 pounds, was just as surprised as everyone else when he learned he was fighting division champion Alex Pereira atop the UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) event, recently made official for Sat., Oct. 5, 2024 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

But it sounds like “War Horse” was even more surprised by the “terrible” feedback.

“I understand that [Jamahal Hill] is upset for his own personal reasons,” Rountree told Kevin Iole. “I’m grateful for the UFC for this opportunity. Everybody else whatever negative opinions, if you’re anything but excited about this fight, maybe you got the problem. I don’t think it’s the matchmakers or the company. It’s like if you have a problem with this, I think the problem is yours.”

Rountree (13-5, 1 NC) is the winner of five straight, with four of those contests ending by way of knockout. That includes his UFC Vegas 83 destruction of one-time title challenger Anthony Smith back in late 2023. And the 34 year-old “War Horse” is no stranger to planishing decorated kickboxing veterans.

“I was absolutely surprised,” Rountree said about scoring the Pereira title shot. “It was unexpected, you know. I didn’t know that this was a possibility like, right now. I was always prepared for it, it’s always what I wanted, but I do understand that yes, there are things like rankings and stuff, that like sometimes I guess can play a huge part. But yeah, I was surprised, 100 percent.”

Pereira opened as the -450 betting favorite.