Israel Adesanya has decided who he thinks will win the main event clash at UFC 307 between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr.
The pair will clash in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the final fight of the night, after Raquel Pennington defends her women’s bantamweight title against Julianna Pena.
Adesanya knocked Pereira out cold at UFC 287Getty
UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo also features on the card as he faces Mario Bautista, while Kevin Holland, Kayla Harrison and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson all have individual bouts.
Adesanya has fought Pereira four times in total, losing his first three against the Brazilian in kickboxing and then MMA.
However, ‘The Last Stylebender’ bounced back and eventually got his victory over Pereira at UFC 287 in April 2023.
Adesanya reclaimed the middleweight title from Pereira, knocking him out cold after two rounds, before the latter moved up to light heavyweight and became a two-division champion.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Adesanya predicted how his former opponent will get on against Rountree Jr.
“I can’t wait [for this fight],” he said.
“I am picking, in this fight…Alex, because I just think the momentum behind him right now is so big.
“Look, I was the most active champion in UFC history. I think Alex Volkanovski was right up there with me, if not more than me.
“Alex [Pereira] now is on his way to being the most active champion in UFC history…he’s already saved, this year, I think two or three cards alone, he’s stepped in and just been like, chama.”
Pereira, who’s first language is Portuguese, has been known to frequently use the word ‘chama’, which translates to ‘let’s go’ or ‘come on’ when being used as slang.
Pereira vs Rountree Jr headlines UFC 307 on Saturday
“The fact he doesn’t speak English, that’s also his superpower – just chama,” Adesanya added.
“When you get in the UFC, this is what I did as well, he did it the right way, fight as much as possible, so you can be in people’s faces and they can see that guy just fought, that guy just fought last month.
“You fight as much as you can, get that momentum behind you and then you become champion, you’re that guy.
“And then again that momentum constantly you’re in people’s faces, you’re getting posted here, here and that’s how you build the stock up.”
Adesanya became the middleweight champion for the first team after he knocked out Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019.
He then suffered his first defeat in the UFC to Jan Blachowicz, subsequently losing out on the chance to become a two-division champion, as the fight was at light heavyweight.
The 35-year-old Kiwi won his next three fights before back-to-back fights with Pereira.
Adesanya was rocked multiple times in his first UFC fight with PereiraGetty
He has since lost to Sean Strickland and more recently Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 in August.
Pereira’s only loss in the UFC came at the hands of Adesanya. Since that fight, he has successfully defended his light heavyweight belt on three different occasions.
Should he beat Rountree, Pereira will hold the record for three championship defences in the shortest amount of time (175 days), a record currently held by Ronda Rousey.
TalkSPORT.com has you covered for everything UFC 307 this weekend. The main event will start at around 3am for UK fans.
