Alex Pereira’s right uppercut connected with the battered and bloodied face of Khalil Rountree Jr. in Round 4 of the light heavyweight title bout Saturday night, marking the final blow to the champ’s resilient challenger and proving once again that UFC delivers in Salt Lake City.
The knockout that came four minutes and 32 seconds into Round 4 was the finish 17,487 fans inside the Delta Center anticipated from arguably the league’s hottest star, marking Pereira’s fourth light heavyweight title victory — each by knockout — and proving the third consecutive year that UFC in Utah’s main event ended with a knockout.
Pereira also became the quickest UFC fighter to defend his title three times, doing so in a 175-day span. Ronda Rousey held the previous record, in 189 days.
“Did this not play out the way you thought it would?” UFC CEO Dana White said. “You knew it was going to be a badass fight.”
The overall night saw some controversial split decisions, resulting in Julianna Peña taking the women’s bantamweight title belt away from Raquel Pennington and Mario Bautista stunning Jose Aldo in a bantamweight bout. There was even some local flavor, with Orem resident and Ogden native Court McGee picking up a win by submission in the preliminaries.
But it was the epic, gnarly bout between Pereira and Rountree Jr that shows why Utah fighting fans were so eager to pay top dollar to pack the Delta Center for a third year.
Prior to the fight, several UFC fans questioned if Rountree Jr was deserving of a shot at the belt, citing his No. 8 ranking and limited success against elite UFC opponents. Rountree, though, quickly proved he belonged by attacking Pereira from the get-go.
He appeared ready for Pereira’s leg kick ability, and countered it with a handful of hooks to the face, propelling him to scorecard wins in the first two rounds.
However, the man they call “Poatan” withstood the early aggression, showcasing his power and technique to steadily turn the momentum of the match in Round 3. In Round 4, Pereira began to punish a worn-out Rountree with a flurry of punches to finish him off.
Pereira finished with 129 strikes on 209 attempts, to Rountree Jr’s 62 strikes on 193 attempts.
“I felt like the difference was the lower leg kick,” White said. “When he started calf-kicking him, he was destroying that leg and he was having trouble putting pressure on it, and he was having trouble with his punching power … He systematically just started picking him apart.”
The Brazilian superstar was grateful to pull out the grueling win, detailing afterward a difficult couple of weeks which he faced leading up to the fight. That included issues with his visa, lingering rib and toe injuries and an illness that had him on antibiotics.
“The fight was really tough but only my team really knows how tough this camp was,” Pereira said through a translator. " … It was a tough leadup to the fight and I actually feel really proud of myself at this moment.”
Rountree Jr delivered his thoughts on the mat post fight, saying, “I thought I was going to hit him a lot more, but he did a really good job at evading the punches and counterstriking.”
“Everybody here in Salt Lake, I just want to give you guys a huge thank you,” Rountree Jr added. “I got so welcomed in your city, and I’ll never forget this training camp, my whole life.
“You guys have been so f------ awesome. So I would love to come back any time, train at altitude, fight here again. I love you guys. I swear to God, I’ll be back one day.”
The match was ultimately a thrill that helped the fans forget the questionable split decisions that preceded it — calls that prompted White to criticize the judging.
In the bantamweight bout, Bautista got the edge over fan-favorite Aldo in a split decision, though Aldo appeared to be the aggressor throughout the fight. In the women’s bantamweight title belt that followed, Peña overcame a knockdown to take the belt from Pennington.
“I thought the judging tonight was atrocious,” White said. “I felt like I was at a boxing match in Ireland.”
For the women’s title, both fighters had their opportunities throughout the fight. Peña put Penningington in a chokehold in Round 3, and Pennington responded by dropping Peña with a right hook in Round 4.
Two judges, Sal D’Amato and Mike Bell, determined Peña won the first three rounds to be a 48-47 winner. Judge Derek Cleary gave Pennington the 3-2 nod, including a Round 1 victory.
“I know that I am tough. I know that I am durable, and I know that I’m never out of the fight and I’m never going to give up on myself,” Peña said. “So you’re literally going to have to kill me in there in order to get me to stop. And I knew that even though I had been hurt, that I wasn’t down and out, and I’m never going to count myself out. So for me, it’s just the definition of a true fighter.”
