Coach Conversation UFC 307: Pereira vs Rountree Jr.

Khalil Rountree Jr. poses for a portrait after his victory during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on March 12, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)

Sean Madden From Easton Training Center Breaks Down This Weekend’s Light Heavyweight Title Fight

By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte • Oct. 1, 2024

Ahead of every championship fight, UFC staff writer E. Spencer Kyte will sit down with one the sharpest coaching minds in the sport to break down the action and provide UFC fans with insights into each championship pairing from the men that spend their days getting these elite athletes prepared to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.

As Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. ready to step into the Octagon with the UFC light heavyweight title hanging in the balance, Kyte tapped old friend Sean Madden of Easton Training Center in Denver, Colorado to dissect the matchup.

Best Trait of Each Fighter

Kyte: All right, let’s get right into it. What’s the best trait of Alex Pereira and what’s the best trait of Khalil Rountree Jr.?

Madden: Let’s start with Khalil because he’s the new one to this scene here.

Order UFC 307: Pereira vs Rountree Jr.

For me, obviously with my background in Muay Thai, I’ve gotta go with his kicks. His kicking game is ferocious and that’s gonna play a big part — hopefully for him, it’s gonna be a big part in this fight. His kicks are incredible, but also his explosiveness, which we’ll talk about a little later too.

He has power in all his weapons, and I think his explosiveness is going to be something that is hard for Alex to deal with, or that he’s at least going to have to adjust to early in the fight. But for Khalil, the best trait is obviously the kicks.

For Alex, we’ve talked about it before, it’s his eyes.

His power is the easy one to talk about, and his left hook, but it’s how he sets things up, how he gets people where he wants them so he can finish the fight as he wants to, and for me, that is just the sign of a very high-level fighter with a lot of experience at setting traps, using their eyes to find openings.

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If you don’t have that and you have the power, you just have a puncher’s chance, but Alex has way more than that. He sets up his shots the right way, and for me, it’s the experience and the eyes that are the best traits of Alex, and that leads to him being able to use his power effectively.

Path to Victory for Each Fighter

Kyte: I know you said we’re gonna get to the explosiveness later, so I assume that comes in somewhere down the road, so I won’t press on it too much. With that being said, what’s the path to victory for each guy?

Madden: According to Khalil, this is just going to be a striking fight, so I’m going to leave the path of least resistance out of this, which could be something difficult for him to implement because it’s something he’s not comfortable with given that he’s not a wrestler.

Khalil Rountree Jr. punches Dustin Jacoby in a light heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 29, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

I think for Khalil, he needs to be able to dictate the space for the duration of the fight, which is a lot easier said than done against someone like Alex, who does a great job of slowly eating up space in the cage and getting you where he wants you so he can find that kill shot.

To me, it’s what I would call a “Zone 3, Zone 1” game plan, where he’s gonna stay long outside the punches, which is where the kicks are gonna do the most work, and then as Alex steps in to start punching, he needs to crowd him and fight on the inside in the clinch. If he can dictate the range here — primarily stay long and use his kicking game, then jam Alex when he comes in and starts to try to punch — I think in terms of pure striking, I think that’s Khalil’s best path to victory here.

He’s a great puncher, too; he’s a very explosive puncher, but I do think that the way that he punches, the style with which he punches, that’s gonna lead to some problems for him. Khalil’s right hook, his counter right hook in particular, is way wider than Alex’s left hook, and to me, that goes right into the path to victory for Alex.

This is going to be a striking fight for him, too, but the way to win is by countering the counter.

What I mean by that is it will be best served for Alex to initiate the offense, to draw the counter lead hook out from Khalil. It’s a big punch, but it’s a very wide, winging punch that he throws, and I think Alex can find the opening and counter that with relative ease once he sees it and feels it a couple times.

Full Fight | Alex Pereira vs Jiří Procházka 2

A game plan of countering the counter is not something that everyone can do, but it’s something that someone that has the experience and the eyes of Alex can get done. We see that with people in the Octagon that have a lot of experience — they get their reads, it takes them a minute or two to get the timing off their opponent, and then they get to work off that, and we’ve seen it with Alex.

He’s such a patient fighter. Everything he throws is to gather information, to see reactions from the opponent, and then he’s able to capitalize on the reads that they’re giving him after that. I think Alex can throw out some initial early offense, to see Khalil’s counter attacks and how he’s gonna react to that, and then I think Alex will be able to counter the counter.

To me, that’s gonna be his easiest path to victory in this fight.

Kyte: Even to me, thinking about the straight left for Khalil, it’s quick, but it’s a shot that hangs out there a little bit longer than it probably should. The retraction time isn’t as quick as the throwing.

It goes and then he’s kind of stuck there for a half-beat, and against a guy like Pereira, every half-beat is just the danger zone.

Madden: He’ll find a whole inside the half-beat.

Alex Pereira of Brazil poses for a portrait after defeating Jiri Prochazka of the Czech Republic in the UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 295 event at Madison Square Garden on November 11, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Roach/

Kyte: He’ll read something the first time you throw it, and we’ve seen in these last couple fights especially, that it’s “If you give me a round, we’re done. If you give me a round to make the reads I need to make, you give me a sense of what you’re gonna do, and we’re done.”

Madden: To me, there are two types of counter fighters too. There are counter attacks that you make someone miss and then you follow them back home with a strike, and then there’s the type of guys where you throw at the same time.

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You know that Khalil is gonna go throw a left hand, and I’m gonna dip out of the way and throw my left hand at the same time, and I’m gonna meet you while you’re punching and cause maximum damage off of that. Alex is that type of counter fighter when he counter punches, and now when you pair that with the explosiveness of Khalil, moving himself into punches — Alex doesn’t need you to move anywhere for him to knock you out cold, but you moving into that at a car crash pace is gonna make it that much worse if he connects at the same time.

Kyte: I think that’s an important distinction you bring up because we talk so much about counter fighters in this sport, but also seem to lean on the “you have to go first” version, where it’s “I want you to go first, and once you do, I’m going to respond.”

There are lots of people that do it well, there’s a bunch that don’t, but it’s that counter where it’s all just based on timing — it’s “the second you move, I’ll counter.”

It’s not “your turn, my turn,” but rather, “You think you’re gonna go? Watch this! I’m coming even faster.” It’s literally trying to beat someone to the punch. It’s the Carlos Condit, Dan Hardy knockout — “You’re throwing that? I’m gonna throw the same punch and get there quicker!”

Full Fight | Khalil Rountree Jr. vs Anthony Smith

Madden: It’s a great point, and to me, the aggressive counter fighter is one of my favorite types of fighters. They’re generating offense, but they’re forcing you to throw back, and when they’re forcing you to throw, they’re creating the openings for where they’re looking to throw and really hammer home.

Conor McGregor in his prime was one of the better ones. I like back-foot counter fighters too, but like you said, a lot of times they’re really comfortable waiting, and they’re really comfortable with boring fights as a result of that as well. Like, “I’m just gonna wait this out until you go, until you make a mistake,” and Alex is not that.

Kyte: Those folks end up getting in those fights we talk about all the time, too, where all of a sudden, you’re down two rounds because you gotta go. I know you’re waiting for him to go so you can go, but if they don’t go, what are you gonna do?

MORE UFC 307: Rountree Jr. Talks Title Fight Against Pereira

Madden: Yeah; now you’re running out of time.

To me, Alex has the capability of being that more aggressive counter fighter, and I think a style like that will fit him well for this matchup, in particular.

X Factor

Kyte: If there were one thing that was going to significantly impact how this fight plays out — that swings it in one direction or the other — what would it be?

Madden: For Khalil, it’s the kicks, like we talked about earlier.

Alex Pereira | Top Finishes

I think if there is something that can swing this fight in his favor, it is his kicking game. We know Alex has a lot of great kicks, but I think people would categorize him as a puncher now; that’s where he does his best work and gets his finishes.

I think the way Alex is starting to carry his guard and his hand position now is going to really lend to Khalil’s left middle kick and high kick. Any time somebody keeps the hands a little bit looser and a little bit lower in front, it’s just such a prime target for a heavy kick like that. I went back and watched how Alex deals with left high kicks — I think we talked about it when we talked about the Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill fight in Coach Conversation — but he doesn’t deal with that left kick in what I would consider ideal defense.

We see people more often than not in MMA where that kick lands, the hand is out in front, and now we’re dealing with a fractured arm, a lot of damage to that. Someone like Khalil with a leg of that size and that technique, you better have air-tight defense on that side because it’s not gonna take many of those where you block them incorrectly or loosely and are dealing with a lot of problems.

So for Khalil, it’s the kicks and I wanna see if he can really wear down the guard of Alex, and kick him hard enough that he has to respect that to where maybe he has to change his own game plan to where he’s not just getting too comfortable punching.

For Alex, like I said before, looking at his last couple fights, I don’t remember someone as explosive as Khalil that he’s faced. Jamahal Hill might be the closest, but you look at Jiri (Prochazka), Jan (Blachowicz), even Izzy (Adesanya) — he’s fast, but…

Kyte: He’s precise, not explosive.

Madden: Right, that’s where his power comes from. It’s precision power and timing power, not raw power.

Kyte: Jiri is awkward and creative, hard to predict. Jamahal Hill is a little bit of Jiri and Khalil and something else.

Dreams do come true 🥹

Khalil Rountree will be headlining his first ever PPV at #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/yZEqJQMdYh
— UFC (@ufc) September 30, 2024

Madden: He’s the closest to Khalil, but still a little bit far away, and we didn’t see enough of that fight to really get a good feel for it, but I do think Khalil’s explosiveness and his speed is really interesting. I am curious to see how Alex deals with that early on and I do think he’s going to have to make some unique adjustments to that.

If he stands close, I think he’s gonna get hit more than he thinks.

I’m a big fan of his pocket defense — how he rolls his shoulders, how sometimes he throws punches and leaves them extended with the elbow up to block — but Khalil is fast and he can hit very hard, so I’m interested to see how long it takes Alex to make an adjustment to Khalil’s speed early on.

Kyte: I’ve said it throughout his career, even watching him on the regional circuit, getting into TUF and so on, but there is a meanness to Khalil Rountree Jr.

When he’s on, and we’ve seen fights where he isn’t, but when he’s dialed in, he throws things with a ferocity and a meanness that you don’t see from a lot of people. It’s the body kicks when he was trying to get onto TUF.

To me, the dialed in, focused version of Khalil, when he throws, it’s vicious. He has that “used to be a great big dude” strength.

Madden: That largely feels like a mindset thing for Khalil, and that’s true for a lot of fighters, right? He has the talent, he has the ability, he has the athleticism, and the belief is gonna be a really big part of it.

Kyte: If he comes out fighting mean, this is southpaw versus orthodox, so that open side is there, the liver is there, and I’m sure his team is saying, “Let’s just come out, be mean, be aggressive, and let’s see what happens when you throw a baseball bat at that liver.

“Go inside leg kick first if you want, but just smash him right away and see what happens.”

Madden: I agree. I don’t think it will take that many with a leg like that and the guard like Alex has, where either it’s gonna create a lot of damage and change the fight, or Alex is going to have to make an adjustment and adapt to that.

And now we’re talking about a different fight. If you can pull Alex out of his A game with that leg, with that kick, things just really got interesting.

One Coaching Curiosity

Kyte: If there is a little something-something in this matchup that catches your eye, that piques your interest from a coaching standpoint, what is it?

Madden: For Khalil, this is the first one under the big lights, really, and for someone that is openly very emotional and has had some mental hurdles as a fighter, like they all do, I will be interested to see how he reacts under the bright lights, being the headliner of a pay-per-view for the first time, against someone like Alex.

I think that can always play a role in these kinds of fights: how he approaches it, how he comes out in the first round, what his mentality is. I’ll be paying attention to that for sure.

MORE UFC 307: Get To Know Rountree Jr. | The Stage Is Set For Rountree Jr.

And then for Alex, the open stance stuff is really intriguing for him. We’ve seen instances where his opponents have gone southpaw in the past — Izzy, Jiri, the Jamahal Hill fight wasn’t that long, but to his credit, he handled that and solved that pretty quickly — but I do think he appears more hesitant when the opponent is southpaw in front of him.

So I’m interested — and I’ve talked about this is in the past with him — but I do think open stance with Alex is intriguing. I would like to see how this fight plays out, how he makes the adjustments to it.

Alex Pereira KOs Jiří Procházka | UFC 303

Khalil is a really good, classic lefty too. Throws a lot of left side weapons, so I wanna see how he deals with a classic southpaw, in particular that kick, so I’m gonna be paying attention to that on the Alex front.

Kyte: This is his first main event, never mind title fight and pay-per-view and all that stuff, so how does he deal with it? That part, I’m 100 percent with you.

The lights are bright, everything you’ve been working for is right here — how do you do?

Madden: This is not a platform we’ve seen him on yet and we have to find out how he performs at this level. This is really what separates stars from the contenders, is can you perform at this level?

Kyte: These chances are so rare, so can you do it?

Madden: There is a difference between being in a title fight and winning a title fight.

Kyte: And we know what Alex is like in title fights, for the most part. I think he’s wired for this, maybe better than anyone else right now.

It’s weird because a fight like this, I keep thinking, “I’d love to see it get to the third round; see it tied up one-one heading into the third” so we can how all this stuff we’ve talked about plays out, but if it ends in 15 seconds I wouldn’t be surprised, on either side.

Madden: There is a lot of heat coming on both sides.

Exactly what you said. The only thing I worry about a little is that we’re not gonna get to see enough of it.

Kyte: We’re never gonna get the “Alex Pereira vs. Southpaws” answer, and in a way, that’s the answer. We may never find out if some southpaw can give Alex Pereira serious problems because it’s never going to go that far.

Madden: Yeah, that’s probably what’s gonna happen. I don’t need five rounds of this, but I’d love to see three, and we’re gonna most likely get two or less, probably, and that’s something we have to accept.

UFC 307: Pereira vs Rountree Jr., took place live from Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 5, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!

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