Khalil Rountree Jr was beaten into a bloody pulp by Alex Pereira on Saturday night.
The Brazilian MMA star successfully defended his UFC light-heavyweight title with a fourth-round TKO victory over a very brave Rountree Jr.
Pereira scored yet another stoppage win on Saturday nightGETTY
The American fought his heart out and arguably won the first two rounds as he went toe-to-toe with the kickboxing icon on the feet.
In the second round, he dropped Pereira with a short right hook.
But as his gas tank began to lower in the third stanza, the tides turned and ‘Poatana’ came into his own.
By round four, Rountree Jr was a bloody mess with claret painting his chest while his right eye was swollen shut by Pereira’s ram-rodding jab.
The 34-year-old was rocked multiple times but showed immense heart in firing back while hurt.
A huge knee up the middle was the beginning of the end, as Periera worked the body before closing the show with a massive right uppercut.
Rountree Jr may have lost the fight but the sizeable underdog saw his stock rise significantly after his gutsy display.
Speaking in the immediate aftermath, he said: “My thoughts coming into this fight was just to be grateful really.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I was really excited to come in here and I really embraced the moment…
“I don’t think I was surprised [by him] at all. I thought I was going to be able to hit him a lot more.
TNT SPORTSRountree Jr’s face was swollen and badly cut in the immediate aftermath[/caption]
“But he did a really good job at evading the punches and counterstriking.
“I’ll never forget this moment Salt Like City. You guys have been so f***ing awesome.
“I love you guys, I swear to God, I’ll be back one day.”
Before the fight, there was a lot of talk about ‘Poatana’ dropping back down to middleweight or moving up to heavyweight to pursue more UFC gold.
However, Pereira put that speculation to bed when he took to the mic.
“We saw that Dricus [du Plessis] is going to fight Sean Strickland, he is a training partner of mine so I don’t want to get in the way,” he said.
“I can move up to heavyweight but this division is great, I feel great at this weight cut and this is where I am at.”
