Alex Pereira continued to shine because the MVP of the promotion after claiming victory in his fourth important event title fight in 11 months.
Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defended his light heavyweight title for the third time by defeating Khalil Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC).
The challenger put up a stiff fight early, but ultimately, the champ retained by stopping Rountree with a hellacious flurry at 4:32 of Round 4.
Each landed well-placed countershots early within the fight. Pereira kept Rountree guessing with kicks, while the champ only handled punches coming in his direction in a competitive first round.
Pereira missed with an enormous head kick attempt in Round 2, leaving a gap for Rountree to crack him with an enormous punch. A mixture and a heavy head kick soon followed, securing a transparent second round for Rountree.
Early in Round 3, Rountree continued to land hard counterpunches, backing Pereira into the fence. Midway through, Pereira went back to adding hard leg kicks to his offense to decelerate Rountree’s responses, which proved to be a pivotal point within the fight.
Rountree was busted open from strikes, and a jumping knee from Pereira prompted a heavy forward-pressure attack to seal the third round.
Bruised and bloodied in Round 4, Pereira continued to select apart his opponent with sharp single strikes while attempting to evade the return punches. Pereira turned up the pressure as Rountree began to back away, drawing out a wild firefight.
Rountree was forced to cover up as he retreated to the fence along with his right eye swollen shut, but Pereira was cautious of the counters and didn’t leave himself open. “Poatan” got a hold of Thai clinch to dig in additional strikes, and the next flurry of heavy punches closed the show.
