Chael Sonnen expects Khalil Rountree to ‘walk through’ Alex Pereira at UFC 307: ‘That is the worst matchup’

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

A 3-time UFC title challenger who almost shocked the MMA world in his 2010 bout in opposition to Anderson Silva, Sonnen is aware of a factor or two in regards to 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 in opposition to Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307, Sonnen sees an ideal recipe for the type of evening that may flip the game upside-down.

“First off, let me provide the scorching take of the day. Khalil Rountree goes to stroll by means of Pereira,” Sonnen stated 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. After we consider who’s going to go battle for a title on pay-per-view, we consider different guys which have gained an entire bunch of fights on pay-per-view. Properly, Khalil was from Smackdown, he got here from the opposite present. He’s been combating on the Struggle 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 one in every of them is a former No. 1 contender, our good pal [Anthony] ‘Lionheart’ [Smith].

“We are able to’t simply overlook Khalil. And I’ll inform you this as a result of I don’t understand how 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 battle — and I’ll admit, I used to be stunned, I didn’t assume this was the path they had been going to go — however I’ll inform you an issue, Khalil goes to win this battle.”

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 presently 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 in opposition to prime contender Magomed Ankalaev, nevertheless the chance was in the end 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 in opposition to 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 in opposition to Pereira. And Sonnen can’t fairly perceive why.

“The check [for Pereira] is as soon as you’re accepted, as soon as the world does view you because the baddest man, and you then’ve received to battle No. 8. You’ve received to battle any person the place you’re going to be a 3-to-1 favourite, which is the present line and that’s in all probability going to maneuver,” Sonnen stated. “I’ll guess you it goes to 4-to-1 by the point these guys battle. When you end up in a match that’s tougher than you thought it was going to be, you’ve received huge issues.

“Mike Tyson used to make guys stop 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 had been so petrified 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 an enormous mistake.”

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