With UFC Paris: Moicano vs. Saint Denis done and dusted, fans can look forward to witnessing the return of Alex Pereira at UFC 307. The light heavyweight champion will aim to defend his title for the third time this year against Khalil Rountree.
Although Rountree wasn’t the ideal title contender based on rankings, many believe him to be an excellent matchup for “Poatan”. The Brazilian has been knocking people out with left hooks and kicks, and Rountree has been very successful since incorporating Muay Thai into his striking.
Here’s what Rountree’s coach thinks of the champion’s striking and how he plans to do the unthinkable at UFC 307…
Khalil Rountree’s Coach Explains How To Beat An ‘Unstoppable Striker’ Like Alex Pereira Or Sean O’Malley
Wood is still exhilarated by his student Merab Dvalishvili beating Sean O’Malley at UFC 306. While discussing Rountree’s UFC 307 fight on the Inside Fighting YouTube channel, he remembered how “Suga” seemed like an unbeatable striker, but Dvalishvili exposed several holes in his game.
“You know, just like, using O’Malley again. [Sean] Was this unstoppable striker and this and that. There’s always, there’s layers, there’s layers to the onion that you have to peel back for the game plan.”
Although Rountree is unlikely to grapple like Dvalishvili to neutralize his opponent’s offense, his coach claims that there are several things to capitalize on. Wood acknowledged that Pereira’ striking can look ugly and unconventional but it works like a charm.
For starters, Pereira has explosive knockout power which always keeps his opponents at bay. On top of that, Wood thinks that by performing rather unusual moves, the Brazilian lures his opponents to enter the pocket following which the fight usually ends.
“One, the guy’s got hammers for hands. Two, I think he lulls people into that like, you know, ‘hey, I’m making mistakes’ and you know, ‘come and get me.’ And then, boop! You’re waking up on the canvas,” Wood continued,” No matter sometimes how ugly things might look or maybe unconventional but unconventional works just as well as conventional, if you know what you’re doing.”
Without revealing a lot, Wood shared that Rountree’s game plan heading into UFC 307 is to avoid aggressing unnecessarily. The coach understands that the light heavyweight kingpin only needs one good shot, so he’ll ask his fighter to remain patient and look for real openings.
“That’s my job to make sure that we don’t fall into any of those traps. You’re going to see this, and his hands are down and he’s leading with his face. He wants to get you, you know, no, there’s reasons he’s doing that.”
Wood has a fair assessment of Pereira’s striking game. Will it help Rountree finally win UFC gold at UFC 307, though?
