With the announcement of the fight between UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree, Dana White’s decision has faced opposition from former fighters who are unhappy about Pereira facing a #8 ranked fighter. At the forefront of this discontent is Pereira’s former foe Jan Blachowicz, who lost to Pereira in 2023 and recently stated, “ I feel like it’s special protection for Pereira.” Now, former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen has refuted Blachowicz’s claim, providing a reality check.

In his latest episode of the podcast Good Guy/Bad Guy, Chael Sonnen emphasized that Pereira’s intimidating style won’t affect Rountree as he thrives in that kind of scenario. “I’m just sharing with you, that Rountree is the wrong matchup. All those scary punches and kicks that Pereira does, that’s when Rountree does his finest work. I’ve got to tell you, this is a massive disaster for anybody who thinks the UFC is trying to protect Alex.” Sonnen further poured cold water on the notion that UFC is safeguarding Pereira claiming, “If they’re trying to protect Alex, somebody just made a big mistake.”

Sonnen also highlighted Khalil Rountree’s Muay Thai background, which shares similarities with kickboxing, except that knees and elbows are not allowed in kickboxing. After a disappointing defeat against Johny Walker, Rountree decided to relocate to Thailand in 2019 to sharpen his Muay Thai skills. This decision has paid off, as evidenced by his UFC stats, as he has won 4 out of his 5 fights by knockout.

Although Chael Sonnen offered his explanation for why the UFC picked Khalil Rountree for UFC 307 over other top-ranked fighters, Dana White has his own reasons for choosing Rountree over Magomed Ankalaev. In an interview, White explained why he preferred Rountree to Anklaev.

Dana White’s perspective on choosing Khalil Rountree

Recently, Dana White has faced unprecedented criticism. First, fans accused him of neglecting the UFC 307 fight card by moving the Max Holloway vs. Ilia Topuria fight to the UFC 308 card, leaving UFC 307 without the headline fight. When White later announced the Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree matchup, he faced even more backlash from fans and light heavyweight contenders, including Magomed Ankalaev, who criticized his decision. Now, White has finally addressed the matter.

In the press conference, Dana White attributed the reasons for not booking the Alex Pereira-Magomed Ankalaev fight to timing issues and a scheduling conflict. The UFC head honcho said, “He [Ankalaev] didn’t skip over, he’s got a fight coming up. We were laying the fights out now, Ankalaev’s got a fight lined up, go in there, do your thing, look great, obviously, you’re next. It’s clear Rountree makes a lot of sense and you said it yourself, ‘No way in hell that’s not a fun one.’ Timing is everything.”

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Now, we must wait and see when White fulfills the title belt desire of Magomed Ankalaev. But currently, both Rountree and Ankalaev must focus on their upcoming fights, in UFC 307 and UFC 308. Nevertheless, do you really think the UFC is trying to protect Alex Pereira, who is now considered the face of the organization among fans? Let us know in the comments.