Chael Sonnen expects Khalil Rountree to ‘stroll by way of’ Alex Pereira at UFC 307: ‘That’s the worst matchup’

Chael Sonnen foresees an upset on the horizon at UFC 307.

A 3-time UFC title challenger who practically shocked the MMA world in his 2010 bout towards Anderson Silva, Sonnen is aware of a factor or two concerning the energy of being the underdog reverse a feared champion. And when he sees the setup for Alex Pereira’s subsequent protection of his UFC mild heavyweight title towards Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307, Sonnen sees an ideal recipe for the sort of evening that may flip the game upside-down.

“First off, let me provide the sizzling take of the day. Khalil Rountree goes to stroll by way of Pereira,” Sonnen mentioned on Good Man/Dangerous Man. “That’s the worst matchup [for Pereira] I might consider. Excuse me, that is [WWE] Smackdown invading Uncooked, and let me clarify. Once we consider who’s going to go combat for a title on pay-per-view, we consider different guys which have gained a complete bunch of fights on pay-per-view. Effectively, Khalil was from Smackdown, he got here from the opposite present. He’s been combating on the Combat Nights and on the [UFC] Apex and issues like this. He’s nonetheless gained [five] in a row, he stopped [four] of these sons of a weapons, and certainly one of them is a former No. 1 contender, our good good friend [Anthony] ‘Lionheart’ [Smith].

“We will’t simply overlook Khalil. And I’ll inform you this as a result of I don’t know the way acquainted you’re or the remainder of the followers are with Khalil, however he does his very best work when he’s being attacked by a kickboxer. It’s not Khalil swarming any person or taking them down or submitting them. He’s a counter fighter, and he loves once you punch or kick at him first. Khalil Rountree not solely deserves this combat — and I’ll admit, I used to be shocked, I didn’t assume this was the route they have been going to go — however I’ll inform you an issue, Khalil goes to win this combat.”

Pereira, 37, has already strung collectively what doubtless quantities to a Corridor of Fame profession in lower than three years of time on the UFC roster. A former two-division champion in GLORY Kickboxing, Pereira captured the UFC middleweight title in simply his fourth look within the promotion with a knockout of Israel Adesanya in 2022, then captured a second belt in simply his seventh UFC look in 2023 by knocking out Jiri Prochazka at 205 kilos. Pereira is at the moment 4-0 at mild heavyweight with a trio of knockout wins over former champions.

Following his second victory over Prochazka in June at UFC 300, many anticipated Pereira’s subsequent title protection to return towards prime contender Magomed Ankalaev, nonetheless the chance was finally given to Rountree Jr., a well-traveled UFC veteran who capped off a five-fight win streak with a knockout of Anthony Smith in December. Rountree Jr. isn’t any stranger to testing himself towards former GLORY standouts — he owns UFC wins over kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki and Dustin Jacoby — but he stays a big betting underdog for his title problem towards Pereira. And Sonnen can’t fairly perceive why.

“The take a look at [for Pereira] is as soon as you’re accepted, as soon as the world does view you because the baddest man, and then you definitely’ve obtained to combat No. 8. You’ve obtained to combat any person the place you’re going to be a 3-to-1 favourite, which is the present line and that’s most likely going to maneuver,” Sonnen mentioned. “I’ll wager you it goes to 4-to-1 by the point these guys combat. When you end up in a match that’s tougher than you thought it was going to be, you’ve obtained large issues.

“Mike Tyson used to make guys give up within the again. Cain Velasquez would have guys wilt within the again. Anderson Silva would make guys wilt within the again as a result of they have been so terrified of what was going to occur. Pereira is coming into that territory. I’m simply sharing with you, Rountree is the unsuitable matchup. All these scary punches and kicks that Pereira does, that’s the place Rountree does his most interesting work.

“This can be a large catastrophe for anyone that thinks the UFC is making an attempt to guard Alex. In the event that they’re making an attempt to guard Alex, any person simply made a giant mistake.”

UFC 307 takes place October 5 on the Delta Middle in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah.