AP just proved he's a thinker and not just a puncher. With his sickness and injuries coming into this fight, he studied Khalil, analyzed and came up with the strategy to win. You can see he turned the intensity on in 3rd round and finished in 4th.
Thats purely talent and thats what separates him from the rest of the pack. It takes a truly special human being to execute perfectly almost all the time. Everyone can learn how to properly shoot a basketball but to have an excellent 3 point shooter almost all of the time is something else. Same thing with fighting, anyone can hit with insane power and throw bombs but to land bombs perfectly and accurately at will is truly something else.
And the strategy worked extremely well. Beyond the power of Alex which is already given based on his size, is that out of this world fight IQ - thats what keeps him winning and still the champ. Thats pure talent something that you can't teach and is God given.
instant sub. I look for "X talks about Y" or "X reacts to Y" or "X on Y" videos, love hearing from athletes' peers what they think or how impressed or not they are. the way you organized the faces behind the voices accompanied by the freeze frames for reference = brilliant. keep it up!
@@yolodojoi think that went over your head… I believe he means that most people may have thought his opp was going to either win or give him a hard time, i was nervous for Alex myself, mostly because poor defense. i learned that alex is a lot better than most consider. He’s not just someone with punchers chance, dudes got fighting skills. Now, seeing him against bigger names in the future looks more interesting although he’s 37… I think his “moment” will be short unfortunately.
Khalil has so much potential after watching him. Definitely gave Alex a run for his money. Also I think Pereira learned a lot from that war as well. Major respect to both warriors 🔥🗿
Pretty hard disagree on Khalil giving Alex a run for his money Khalil did what everyone who knows him expected him to do, push super hard in the few 2-3 rounds, then gas out and start eating shots, whereas Alex was gonna pace himself and then pick up in the 4th and 5th round Alex was also injured, had travel issues, was sick, and some other issues in his camp, the only issue out of Khalil's camp that I've heard was that the cut that opened on his nose was originally from an injury during his camp If Alex was fully fit I think it would've been a round one or round two knockout
@@MAWILL282000let me guess, you think pereiras strategy was to allow Khalil, the guy with the 205 knockdown record, to hit him for the first 2 rounds? You pereira bandwagons are easily the most ignorant and obnoxious fans and it’s not even close. I’m willing to bet that literally everyone who roots against pereira does so so that you morons shut up
IMO DC and Rogan are lowkey haters of Pereira. I understand that Joe Rogan praises Pereira a lot but on the other hand he never sounds like he favoring Alex and at times seems like he’s picking against him. He even back up Hill on the nutshot at UFC on how Alex closed the distance and this and that during that short lil break.
I thought it was really stupid coming into this fight when people said Pereira would be at a disadvantage since he's fighting a southpaw You don't become one of the greatest modern kickboxers ever, and not be able to fight southpaws; even in the UFC he beat Jamal Hill who tends to be a southpaw, and Izzy who switches between southpaw and orthodox It's simply a non-issue when you're at that level, I really wouldn't be surprised if Pereira himself is decent in southpaw as well, once you're so good at striking, or wrestling, or whatever, it tends to be pretty helpful to be able to fight out of either stance
If your'e really gifted athletes such as Alex and Izzy, adjustments are almost like common sense to them, it is not an issue or a puzzle to them at all. Thats what separates elite fighters from the average ones and something that you cant teach a fighter
@@joefilms2775 yeah absolutely agreed, it's intuition, not even a physical gift either, which is why a lot of people don't really consider it I suppose its a bit of nature and nurture i think, if you're a smart/perceptive person and you have good coaching at the beginning, then it's not that challenging to be able to fight against or out of either stance; it's more common in grapplers I think, but i personally when i wrestled in high school and college could have either hand or leg as my lead, not really as applicable in striking though
Roundtree stood tall and fought well, he got hurt and battered in the 4th but he made a fight of it! Jamal Hill on the other hand yeah he took that dudes soul!
no soul was taken - Rountree showed maximum heart and gave Pereira the biggest challenge to date he's ever had; it's the beautiful jabs and pullbacks into excellent combos that got him the well deserved win; both fighters' stock went WAY UP
And Alex took this fight even thou he was really sick and was on his second round of antibiotics, and had cracked ribs but stood tall and played his chess game
Alex had such insane precision, that is simply talent. People say it is just power that makes him win consistently and knocking guys out but it is all beyond that. Thats already given with the guys his size, anyone can knock anyone out at that division theyve got all insane power there - guys who are damn big and strong walking 230 to 240lbs surely has bombs. Knowing the fundamentals is one thing but to execute flawlessly almost all of the time that is truly something else and that's what sperates extremely talented guys like Alex, Jones and the other champs from the rest. Its really hard to beat Alex at this stage, he is kinda similar to Fedor Emelianenko who is so extremely talented that his only enemy is father time and if his heart and mind wants it no more. I wish Alex to fight now at the HW and a showdown with Tommy Aspinall would be nice - legend vs rising superstar both are really technical and methodical it is a fight of who wanted it more.
I’ve thought that instantly after seeing replays.. As you watch Khalil drop after those body shots you see Alex grabs his hands together like he’s literally taking his soul
@@khayree7929 he was most definitely hurt by a body kick and multiple good counters. Stop the cope, your boy won and you still can’t give his world class opponent any credit.
Yes, he had to explode to counter and keep Alex off him. In rounds 3-4 he didn't have the stamina and movement to keep Alex off him, and he was slower and less powerful.
he used too much energy also his leg was compromised. Moreover khalil weapons was too limited only thrown few kicks. I thought maybe he gonna do Muay Thai clinching that would be very useful for him. Nobody can withstand Alex’s offense with a small gloves.
The biggest factor to Khalil losing is his refusal to grapple, because of the height difference it is even more significant for a striker's match especially a great striker like Pereira. Khalil set himself up for a big disadvantage already. There was a point where Pereira's back was facing Khalil and I think Khalil couldve won there had he took that opportunity to grapple.
@iggs67 exactly, Alex has shown better defensive grappling than Khalil. Also, Alex's cardio is way better than Khalil. If Khalil started wrestling in round 1 he would be gassed in round 2.
@@aldoantonioaguirre8853 oh it was entertaining, but that's not good strategy in combat sports. Getting knocked out is bad for your health, and he should have been playing with the same mindset as Alex: Do what you do well, and adjust to your opponent. Hurt them and try not to get hurt back. If you want to see wild entertainment with little regard to health, there's something called BKFC. Give that a try
That’s funny because everyone who understands mma was excited for this fight because they know Khalil is a talented Thai boxer. The only people that counted khalil out are the bandwagons who aren’t familiar with his style
@@justinAclark2075 how did the narrative affect him? He fought the same way he does every fight which is striking and only going for trips. Obviously pereira is the favorite but you can’t count out a powerhouse who spent years training in Thailand. He out performed a lot of pereiras glory opponents
@@Irridosiclitis I didn't think I'd have to spell it out. He chose a specific game plan based on the idea he was going to show the world he didn't need grappling to win. Well guess what? He lost. Maybe he shouldn't have bothered with that mentality, and perhaps he would have been sharper with his game plan.
Khalil is fantastic, but Alex is too slick. He just didn’t allow Khalil to make full contact, both moving backward, angling off, and slipping.
10 дней назад
Pereira had a fight plan for Khalil. Pereira preemptively spoke how he would fight Rountree , so there should have been no surprise that there wasn't an early knockout as many expected compared to his other fights. The 4th round Khalil took a brutal beat down probably suffered more damage than all of Pereiras previous KO wins combined. I'm not so sure that this won't affect his career in the future. Septaplasy surgery is no joke, along with the plastic surgery needed to repair his face and eyes.
@@mariovitorlauande2706 Jon is not afraid of anyone. He has no reason to fight an up and comer that doesn’t sell PPV’s. I think he’d definitely fight Alex if Stipe first show. And it would be huge
Nobody will ever bring up are the fighters told not to shoot for Alex's legs. After Jiri's 2 fights, makes no sense to not attack Periera's weakness. Alex being called a goat. Not once has he been on the ground. How is that even possible ...unless its in the contract.
Does anyone think that Pereira used the environment as his advantage(The high altitude drains the fighters gas more than usual) to drain out Rountrees gas in the early rounds?
These camps always account for this, if your opponent has more muscle than you or a history of gas tank issues you'd be a fool to not employ that into the strategy
@@crashthecat Agreed, Alex was also training at altitude for most if not all of the camp, I don't know if Rountree was tbf, I think maybe? He normally tends to gas out by the end of the second, into the third, and that happened here- I think he would've gassed out earlier if he hadn't been training to fight at altitude, but maybe he just got kind of lucky that it didn't affect him much if he didn't train for it
No lol Rountree is one of the most physically fit people in the world- it wasn't a matter of physical cardio but what you would call fight cardio. He adrenaline dumped, it's the body's natural reaction to danger- but it's also very bad in a fight where you might be fighting for longer than five minutes lol
@JA-ru3il more muscle = more oxygen usage. Theres a lot to it That said, absolutely Khalil is a top tier athlete? It's not a knock on him and absolutely fight cardio is different from other types
@@crashthecat nah he just not used to that level of striking- happens all the time to people when they're overwhelmed. The body goes into survival mode because it thinks it's fighting for it's life and dumps adrenaline. When the adrenaline wears off you crash hard, weak and twitchy muscles, it feels like you have weights on your wrists and ankles. Seasoned professionals don't have that problem, they learn to stay within that goldilocks range of adrenaline and not get too worked up.
Rountree was gassed at mid rountwo...I was watching live and he was huffing and his arms were slow. His calf was swollen n stiff. I said , its over. Just the additional willpower and heart was keeping him in there longer. Chama will break you down. He hits deceptively hard. So little movement. Everyone who has, trained, sparred or fought w him says , it hurts. He can be knocked out if u can get past his incredible distance management. I have seen him rolling w Glover n his Jujitsu looks decent. He is a problem for the division. Who can take his striking away with a ground game? J Jones is gone from division and Aspinol is too big..who can wrestlephuc a win from the Chama on this guy?
Watch again ! But his time use your brain with you know about kickboxing and striking ill see that Alex as calm and seen everything coming. I was watching like “OK, he’s giving everything he had no way he’s gonna keep that pace for 3 rounds.
Alex did not take his soul. If anything, this fight showed Rountree that he can make a showing against the cream of the crop. If anything, this fight invigorated Rountree's soul.
Rountree has to figure out how to fight a different way. His blitzing style burns too much of his gas tank. The way it stands now he simply isn't a championship 5 round fighter. He's his own worst enemy.
If MMA fighters are contractually obligated to not take Alex down, well then of course the guy will keep the belt. I believe Alex has never been on the canvas other than Izzy KO'ing him. By now, only mental illness would cause a wrestling MMA fighters to not force his stuff frame to the mat. There's 1,000 ways to twist his arm or leg and get him to tap. Refusing to exploit Alex's only weakness is IMO, now a stipulation. Or you aren't fighting him.
Watch his fight vs Jan Blachowicz. No one is obligated to not wrestle him, but they are afraid to lower their head anywhere near him for the most part. It's nearly a game over if you lower your head into the path of his left hook.
This is why my brother Izzy is better, beats Alex in the first fight but get cult in the 5th round, and knocked him out in the second fight.alex is good 👍 but Izzy is better
Besides peak Izzy, no, I don't think so It doesn't surprise me at all, they're both high level world championship kickboxers, that have both routinely just shit on some former champions I can't think of anyone at 185 or above with that kind of resume in the UFC, and to be honest it seems kind of less and less common to see kickboxing/muay thai first guys at that size nowadays
@@khayree7929 i won't disagree with that but that doesn't really change my point, Izzy has to cut a pretty good amount as well to get to 185, he'd naturally be a 205 at minimum, alex is closer to a heavyweight naturally given he weighs like 230lb when rehydrated for the fight
Imagine if Alex weren't weaker from the antibiótics, rib and toe injury and been having fever wich didn't allow him to work his full camp. Round 2 and it was over. Not taking credit to Jr but he fought a Alex at 70%.
