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Louise Thomas
Editor
Israel Adesanya made a shrewd prediction during Alex Pereira vs Khalil Rountree Jr, accurately calling the end of the UFC 307 main event.
Adesanya knows Pereira well, having fought the Brazilian four times across kickboxing and MMA – losing to Pereira via decision and knockout in their old sport, before trading KO wins with Pereira in the UFC.
Since Adesanya knocked out Pereira in April 2023, the latter has moved up to light-heavyweight and been perfect, winning the 205lb title and retaining it three times. Pereira won the vacant belt by stopping Jiri Prochazka in November, before repeating that result in June after knocking out Jamahal Hill in April, leading to his fight with Rountree on Saturday (5 October).
And Pereira, 37, overcame a tricky start to beat Rountree via fourth-round TKO, with Adesanya predicting the finish despite the competitive nature of the bout.
Before the fight, Adesanya said: “If Khalil knocks him out, it would be amazing, but I think Alex is going to knock him out.” Rountree then established a 29-28 lead on the judges’ scorecards after three rounds, but Adesanya observed on his YouTube channel: “Pereira doesn’t look gassed. He recovers well.
“I’m telling you, he’s a f***ing demon. I can feel it: now it’s going to be chama time.”
Adesanya, who was referring to Pereira’s catchphrase, was right; the Brazilian brutalised Rountree in round four to force a stoppage.
“He’s got some hard fights in front of him, but he is that guy right now,” Adesanya said after the fight.
Adesanya lost the middleweight title to Pereira in 2022, suffering a TKO defeat, before knocking out his rival in 2023. Since regaining the belt in that rematch, however, Adesanya has gone 0-2.
The Nigerian-born New Zealander lost the title to Sean Strickland in a major upset 13 months ago, before Strickland dropped the belt to Dricus Du Plessis in January. Then, in August, Du Plessis submitted Adesanya to retain the gold.
